Bad Blood
by Snowberryxoxo
Summary: Sequel to Before The Worst - The life Callie had before she was murdered is shattered as she returns from the dead and she soon finds her family's past digging its way back into her life... Damon/OC
1. Familiar Lips

**A/N: Hii, I just remembered that I'm going to Dublin on Sunday and I'll be gone for a whole week, which means that I won't be able to update next week, but DON'T FRET! Instead of updating on the 15th, I'll update today and again on the 15th where you'll get chap 2 ;D**

**Disclaimer: (Sadly) I don't own the Vampire Diaries or any of the characters, but if I did I would keep three particular Originals and a certain Salvatore in my bedroom as my slaves XD**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

**Bad Blood**

Chapter 1:

"Where is my father?" Callie asked as the first thing once she had showered, dressed and drunk three bags of blood.

"When Elijah heard that Finn had killed you, he… well, he didn't take it that well. He blamed himself for your death and wanted to kill Finn as well as Esther," Rebekah said. "Esther tried to kill us all by sacrificing Finn in a ritual, but she was stopped and fled. After we buried you, he left town and we haven't heard from him since."

Callie sighed. "And Damon? Where is he?"

"Probably drinking his way through the Grill's liquor…" Klaus said, smirking a little.

"It's true. He didn't take your death well either." Rebekah said.

She said nothing and merely sat on the couch, watching the fire burn in the fireplace. Ever since she returned from the Other Side, she had been feeling kind of… _off_. She didn't know what to feel about anything and she felt a stronger connection to the necklace than before.

Perhaps something had changed inside her.

"What exactly happened when you died?" Klaus asked curiously.

"I was somewhere dark and cold at first, but then I saw my mother and she... told me that I would return soon. My necklace was glowing for some reason and I think it brought me back to life." Callie answered hesitantly.

"Perhaps it holds more power than you thought," Rebekah said and took a look at it. "Did you get this from Ayanna?"

"Yes, it belonged to my grandmother. She kept it safe while my mother lived with her sister. My mother then gave it to me before she died."

Rebekah opened her mouth to say something, but frowned and looked just as confused as her niece and brother were. Callie decided to leave the house, but Klaus quickly blocked her path.

"Where do you think you're going? You're still weak and vulnerable." he said firmly.

"I was buried for three weeks, Klaus. I need some fresh air and frankly, I still feel a little dead." Callie said coldly, walking past him and out of the door.

She did need some fresh air – a lot of it – and she mostly needed to see Damon. She dreaded that he had lost his will to live or that he was distracting himself by sleeping with dozens of women – or worst of all: both things.

When Callie stood before the Salvatore Boarding House, she took in a deep breath of the cool air and enjoyed the feeling of being alive. She didn't know what was worst; to actually die or wake up buried 6 feet underground in a coffin. She shuddered at the memory of being locked inside the coffin and having to dig her way out.

"_Callie? Oh God!_"

The sound of Elena's voice made Callie's undead heart skip a beat and she turned around to find the doppelganger running towards her as fast as she could. She wrapped her arms around Callie and they just stayed like that for a long time, embracing each other tightly.

Callie had missed Elena much more than she expected she would, because despite the differences they'd had, then Elena was still her friend and she cared about her immensely.

"I'm so, so sorry. Had I known that Esther had killed you, then I wouldn't have–"

Callie pulled away a bit. "What did you do?" she asked worriedly.

Elena wiped some tears away and sighed. "I helped Esther linking all of her children together, so if one dies then they all die. I know it was wrong of me to make a decision like that when I know how much you love your father, but I thought it might help us stop Klaus." she answered.

Of course Callie was angry that Elena would make such a decision, but she knew that Klaus had killed her aunt and understood her reason for wanting to kill him.

But now that she also knew that all of the Originals were linked together, she feared that she would lose them all soon.

"Do you know where Damon is right now? I need to speak with him."

"I think he's home now. Stefan says that he's been doing nothing but drinking, partying and um…"

"Sleeping with women every day?"

Elena sighed again, but nodded. "I'm sorry. We've tried making him stop, but you know how he is when he's upset."

She did and as much as she didn't want to catch him lying drunk on his couch or in bed with a random woman, then she really needed to see him.

So she said her goodbyes to Elena and went inside, her ears immediately hurting of the loud sound of music blasting from the living room.

Callie hesitantly walked in to the living room and was more than just shocked when she found Damon dancing half-naked with a group of half-naked women. He emptied a bottle of Bourbon and threw it carelessly away, then went to bite one of the women in her neck.

It hurt that he did all those things, but she knew that it was his way of mourning and closing off all of his emotions so he didn't hurt as bad.

Calmly, Callie walked up to the stereo and pressed _pause_, making the drunken vampire frown and turn around to see whoever had stopped his little party. His eyes widened at the sight of her, but then a thought hit him and he shook his head, laughing quietly to himself.

"I did wonder when you would come haunting me," he muttered, barely able to stand on his two legs. "I bet you're here to tell me what a bad boy I've been! Too bad you're just a ghost and can't really harm me!"

Callie rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "I'm not a ghost, Damon. I'm very much alive." she said firmly.

Damon chuckled. "That's what a ghost would say! You can't be alive, because _I_ buried you. You were very much dead."

She groaned, walked up to him and slapped him so hard across his face that he flew into the wall. It was the only way for her to show him that she was alive and not a ghost coming to haunt him.

"Leave this house and forget what happened here!" she yelled to the women.

They quickly dressed and left the house, leaving Callie alone with the drunken vampire. She walked up to him before he could get up and pulled him up by his throat as easy as nothing. She still was over 800 years older than him and with him being drunk she could easily beat him up.

"Do I still look like a ghost, Damon?" she asked.

"Sorry, I don't believe it! When Mason returned he was able to hurt me, but he was still a ghost!" he answered stubbornly.

Callie didn't know how to convince him that she truly was alive, so she let go of him and put him back down on the floor.

"I know you're hurt and mourning, but I really am not dead. I don't know how it's possible, but I am and I need your help stopping Esther and Finn."

Damon snorted and walked away, picking up another bottle of something strong before going upstairs. Callie sighed heavily and took look around in the messy living room. She decided to clean up the mess he had made and threw out the rest of his liquor in case he returned for more.

By the time Callie was done Stefan returned home as well and he too was shocked to see her, but reacted differently from how his older brother did.

"I'm guessing you have met Damon," he said, nodding to the broom in her hand. She nodded and he shook his head a bit. "Give him some time to let it sink in."

Callie nodded reluctantly and put the broom back in the closet. She didn't really know what to do anymore. Her father had left town and was probably mourning too in his own way, while her boyfriend was sleeping with everything that had a pulse.

What a way to be welcomed back from the dead (!)

Callie had a bad feeling that this day was about to get worse…

"Tell him that I'm at the Grill if he decides to sober up," she said. "I really need a drink too."

She left the house and went to the Grill that looked just like she remembered it – except this time Alaric wasn't drinking anything with alcohol in it. She found that a little amusing and decided to walk up to him.

"Hi, Ric. Can I join you?" she asked.

Alaric flinched at the sound of her voice and was speechless for a moment. He even sniffed his drink to make sure that it wasn't spiked with alcohol.

"You're not hallucinating. I'm alive. I believe my necklace brought me back to life the same way your ring usually brings you back." Callie explained.

"Ah, I see… and Damon? You've talked with him?" he asked worriedly.

She nodded. "That's why I'm here. Can you fill me in on what I've missed in those three weeks?" she said.

He nodded and began telling her about how two members of the Council had been murdered and how this someone tried murdering him too _twice._ He eventually revealed that the murderer was no other than his current girlfriend Dr. Meredith Fell.

"You went through all that and then you're drinking a… soda?" she asked incredulously.

He chuckled. "Yes, no amount of alcohol can make me forget being stabbed and then shot by my psycho _ex-_girlfriend." he said.

"I was staked by my uncle, betrayed by my grandmother and buried all on the same day. I'd rather be stabbed and shot than to go through that again."

He grinned. "Touché. I'm guessing you haven't talked with your father?"

She shook her head. "I wish I knew where he is. He's not answering his phone and didn't even tell his siblings where he went."

"Maybe he went looking for Esther and Finn? They disappeared too."

Callie hoped that wasn't the case, because she really didn't want him to get himself in danger or even worse – killed. She tried calling him with her own phone and all she got was his answering machine, so she left him a message and hoped that the sound of her voice would make him return.

"_So it is true then. You're back._"

Callie turned around to say something, but she suddenly felt a pair of familiar lips crash onto hers.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	2. Sage

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and alerts and for being so patient! :D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 2:

The kiss was long and passionate and reminded her of the day she married her best friend, but when he pulled away and looked at her with a pained look in his face, she didn't feel anything.

It was like all of her emotions had disappeared too.

"Callie, please… say something. I don't want this to be another dream I'll soon wake up from," Marcus said pleadingly, cupping her face in his hands. "Are you really alive?"

Callie wanted to say something, but all she could make herself do was to nod and stroke his cheek gently with her thumb. He hadn't shaved for a while, his dark hair was a mess and he looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"Oh, Freya… I don't care how it's possible, but I'm not leaving you again. You need me and I need you."

"I… " Her throat felt dry, so she downed her drink and then turned to face Marcus again. "Hold me."

She didn't know why she said it, but she just needed someone to hold her tightly and Marcus was more than happy to do that.

She could sense that he still loved her as much as before – perhaps even more – and after seeing how Damon reacted to seeing her, she was starting to see both him and Marcus in a different light.

"Come," Marcus said after a while. "I need to show you something important."

Callie followed him out to his car and took her to the outskirts of Mystic Falls, near the cave where she remembered Damon taking her once while Mikael tried killing Klaus.

It was the night she'd remembered the origin of her necklace and reminded of that she once was a witch too like her mother and ancestors.

That particular memory made her look down at the necklace that still hung around her neck. That too had been cleaned and looked beautiful as always.

"Do you remember Sage?" Marcus asked as they stopped nearby the cave.

Callie frowned and looked at him wonderingly, but the name alone did spark something in her mind and made her smile weakly.

Sage.

How could she forget her?

_1928, Chicago_

"_Marcus, hurry up! We'll be late for the show!" Callie urged._

_Her escort – dressed in his finest suit and with a hat covering that wild hair of his – discretely ran up to her with his enhanced speed and grinned as they both walked towards the alley they were looking for tonight._

_A scrappy young boy stood outside a door and looked suspiciously at them, but Callie leaned down and flashed her fangs at him, which meant that she was allowed to enter. _

_He opened the backdoor that went out to the alley for them and led them down a long corridor to a dark room filled with vampires and humans alike._

_They all stood around a ring and watched two young men fight with their bare fists, shedding blood and losing teeth in the process._

_Nearby the ring stood a woman with auburn hair dressed in a fine clothes and when she spotted them, she signed for them to follow her._

_They went some feet away from the boxing ring where they could talk somewhat privately and finally greeted each other._

"_It's been way too long since we've last talked, you two," she said and giggled. "Are you here to fight or have some entertainment tonight?"_

"_It has been way too long, Sage, but dear Marcus would like to blow some steam off tonight," Callie said, smiling brightly. "Right, Marcus?"_

_They both looked to Marcus, but he'd gone back to the fighting ring and was now cheering on one of the young men he apparently seemed to know. Callie giggled and shook her head of the sight._

"_I'm guessing _you're_ here because you heard that I found something that was stolen from you last month?" Sage said._

_Callie nodded. She and Marcus had been in New York at the time and looked for her father as usual, but then a group of vampire hunters had attacked them and stolen her necklace, which she'd found rather odd since they could've killed both of them that night._

"_I'll give it to you _if _you do something for me later and promise to keep this on at all times…"_

_Callie frowned, but nodded in agreement and was handed her necklace back. She immediately put it back on and felt complete now that she wore it once again._

"_And this favor of yours… when will you collect it?" she asked wonderingly._

_Sage grinned. "We'll see. But tonight I only ask of you to have fun with me like in the old times. I'm sure you're hungry too from the long trip." she answered and winked._

_Callie smirked and pulled Sage in for a hug; tonight they were going to make women bleed…_

"Yes, I remember her," Callie said. "What about her?"

"She's here. In town. I'm not quite sure how, but Damon seems to know her and after you died…" He sighed. "Well, to make it brief then there's a reason why you probably saw Damon dancing with half-naked women today."

Callie groaned. "She made him do that?"

He shrugged. "Not exactly, no. He began drinking way before Sage came and was… well, trying to distract himself with different women, but he turned so much worse after she came. I think she reminded him of how to have a good time."

"Oh, she did and right now Damon still thinks I'm a hallucination caused by too much alcohol."

Marcus sighed heavily. "He's hurting, Callie. We all were – especially your dad. I don't think I've ever seen him so heartbroken and furious the day he found you dead. He's been looking for Esther and Finn since that day and it wouldn't surprise me if he's hoping to kill both of them."

"But if he kills Finn, then he'll die too… so will all of his other siblings."

"He knows that, but he's your dad. He lost his only child and now he wants revenge no matter what it'll take for him to get it."

Callie groaned again and buried her face in her hands. She wished that she could find her father or at least talk with him, but he was too hell-bent on avenging her to answer anyone's phone calls.

"Freya, I know it's a lot to take in after what you've been through, but there's a reason why I drove you all the way out here…" Marcus said softly.

"And what's that?" she asked, moving her hands down to her lap.

Marcus stepped out of the car and she did the same, enjoying the feeling of being outside and not inside that car anymore. Even though it was big, then she was still feeling claustrophobic after being buried more than six feet underground in a coffin.

She shuddered at the thought of the horrific memory.

"You okay? You don't look so good…" Marcus said worriedly.

"I'm fine," she lied. "Now why are we here?"

He signed for her to follow him and she reluctantly went inside the cave with him, but they walked much deeper into it and it was luck that Marcus had brought flashlights along, because it was so dark that not even they could see anything.

They walked for what felt like about 10 minutes in the labyrinth-like underground tunnel and the deeper they came the more nauseous was Callie becoming of being in such a dark place. She hated feeling so scared of the darkness, but that horrific memory had changed her in more than one way.

"We're almost there," Marcus said, taking her hand in his. "I found it a few days ago with Sage. I don't know how she knows about it, but… try taking a look."

She moved the light to where he was pointing and walked into a pitch black room that smelled strangely familiar. She could smell… her mother's scent and the scent made her calm down.

But it wasn't the smell that really surprised her.

When Callie took a look around the room and lit the walls up with her flashlight, she saw all kinds of strange symbols on them. It wasn't like in the other caves where there were drawings, but these symbols… it looked like nothing she'd ever seen before.

"What is this?" she asked worriedly.

"It's protecting spells that keeps all creatures which are not from your ancestors bloodline out of here," Marcus answered, still standing _outside_ the room. "You can enter this room because the spirits that are connected to this room can sense who you are… and what you used to be."

"A witch." Callie finished.

"Not just a witch. You were never an ordinary witch and neither were your ancestors. They were shamans and as you already know then they created the werewolves."

"But why are they here? What's so important in here?"

Marcus shrugged. "I don't know, but Sage suggested that something important may be hidden here that your ancestors spend a lot of time and power trying to hide from everyone."

Callie walked to the middle of the room and inhaled the calming scent, wondering if her mother used to spend a lot of time in here or if the scent was connected to Serena another way.

"I'll be right outside if you need anything, ok?"

She shook her head, but it wasn't to his question. She couldn't be in here for much longer and needed to get out right now.

Callie ran as fast as she could out of the tunnel and soon stood outside in the woods again, taking in deep breaths and supporting herself to a tree, trying so hard to forget the memory of waking up in the coffin alone.

"Oh God… oh God…" she muttered repeatedly, feeling tears brimming her eyes.

"_Callie!_" Marcus yelled, running outside to help her.

He tried to touch her, but she winced away and looked at him with tears trickling down her cheeks and her body shivering of fear.

"I-I-can-can't. I-I'm sor-ry." Marcus blinked and sighed when he suddenly found himself alone.

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**Oh, and let's hope I get home in one piece from Dublin! XD**


	3. The Darkness

**A/N: Hii, I'm finally back from Dublin which means you'll get a new update ;)**

**Thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and alerts!**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 3:

The waterfall was glistening beautifully in the faint light of the half-moon and the shining stars reflected in the river before Callie.

It calmed her down.

The smell of dirt still made her feel nauseous and the darkness frightened her, but she could breathe and didn't feel trapped anymore.

But… something _had_ changed inside her and she knew that she was far from feeling alright after what happened to her.

"_Freya, what are you doing here?_"

Callie looked over her shoulder and sighed when she saw that it was merely one of her uncles – the one who despite everything he'd put her through still stayed and helped her.

"I don't know… I can't think straight right now." Callie said, turning her gaze back to the calm river.

Klaus frowned and decided to sit down beside her, but he didn't say anything at first. He just looked at her trembling body and tried figuring out what was happening to her.

"Are you okay, Freya?" he asked softly.

She shook her head and finally looked into his eyes.

"I feel like shit, Klaus. I can't be in a small room without panicking; I don't like the darkness around me and I… I don't feel like myself anymore. I feel… lost." Callie said.

Klaus groaned. "It will pass, trust me. You've been through a lot and waking up from the dead is never happens without consequences."

"And Damon? How am I supposed to make him believe that I'm not dead?"

He rolled his eyes. "Forget about Damon, Callie. He is not worth it. You should focus more about your family than the Salvatores."

Callie snorted. "Over half of my family is gone, Klaus. You and Rebekah are the only ones who are left and you're more concerned about finding that damn tree!"

"That's not true! And if we don't find that tree, then you will lose your entire family – even your father."

Klaus stood up and left her alone, but she didn't bother running after him. She needed some time alone and she wanted… she wanted to start her life with a clean table and by that she meant that she wanted all the things she'd never had when she was a human.

A normal life with normal friends, school and of course teenage problems.

Callie nodded to herself, took a deep breath and exhaled, then stood up and turned around, nearly walking right into a familiar person she hadn't seen for years.

"Sage! You–"

"Heard that you'd returned from the dead. Very impressive, Callie," Sage said, smirking. "Now why do I hear that you're dating the notorious lady-killer Damon Salvatore?"

Callie snorted and crossed her arms. "You mean the guy you turned into a party-loving, drunken Casanova?"

Sage rolled her eyes. "You'd rather prefer that he was a suicidal, drunken vampire? I gave Damon something to live for. He nearly killed himself after you supposedly died."

She groaned. "What are you even doing here?"

"I could say that it was only because I heard about your death, but that's not true. I have other reasons for being here."

Callie sighed. "Well, have fun with those reasons! I'm going home now."

She tried walking past Sage, but the over 900-year-old vampire stopped her and held on to her arm.

"Wait. I came here to see you for a reason… I wanted to ask you if it's true that Finn was the one who killed you."

The reminder of what her uncle did made Callie's heart ache. "Yes, it's true. He… did kill me."

Sage looked genuinely baffled and wanted to say something, but Callie didn't have time to discuss this with her old friend right now.

She wanted to go home, so she went back to the Mikaelson Mansion where she found Klaus sitting in the living room alone with a drink in his hand.

"I'm going to school tomorrow," she said, making him frown and look at her. "Will you please enroll me?"

The frown on his face deepened. "You want go to school? Why?" he asked confusedly.

Callie shrugged. "I just do. Are you going to enroll me or not?"

He placed his glass of blood on the coffee table and swiftly ran up to her. "I'll enroll you, but surely there must be a reason to why you want to do this."

She sighed heavily. "I've never gone to a school, ok? I've spent my entire life trying to find my father and never had a normal teenage life. I don't want to die again without at least having some normal memories to look back on."

"Normal? Callie, you're a 1000 years old vampire. Nothing is going to be normal to you. The life you lived before you became a vampire – _that_ was normal."

Callie grabbed Klaus' neck and slammed him against the wall, surprising both of them with her impulsive actions.

"I don't care what you think is normal. I'm going to school and then you can have fun trying to find that damn tree!" she snarled.

She let go of him and stalked out of the room, running upstairs to her bedroom and slamming the door shut like an angry teenager.

Still baffled by what just happened, Klaus just stood and looked up, wondering what the hell was up with his niece. He'd never seen her act so impulsively before and it was almost as if she was like a newly turned vampire again with no control of her emotions.

"What's wrong, brother? You look like you just saw our father's ghost." Rebekah said teasingly.

Klaus rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to her.

"Callie apparently wants to go to school. She said she wants to have a 'normal' life." he said.

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "So? Let her have it. She just returned from the dead, Nik. You can't expect her to be the same after something like that and with Elijah still running after our mother, we're the only ones she has left."

"I know, but I think something happened to her. Something bad. Keep an eye on her for me. I'll go seeing if I can find Elijah in the meantime."

Rebekah sighed, but nodded and decided to go upstairs and into Callie's bedroom, but Callie wasn't in there. She could, however, hear noises coming from Elijah's room and found her niece looking at a painting Klaus had made of her for him after she'd been buried.

"Callie? Are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

"I haven't gone mental if that's what you and Klaus are worrying about." Callie answered.

Rebekah walked up to her niece and took a look at the painting. It was one where Callie was wearing the same dress she wore the night she died and in the painting she was dancing with her father, smiling as always.

"I know you slept with Damon after I died… I could smell you on him when I went to see him."

Her aunt groaned. "I was drunk and upset about your death. So was he."

Callie shrugged. "I'm not angry at you or at him. I'm just… so confused lately."

"Of course you are. Any person would be if they experienced the same you did."

"It's not just that. I _feel_ changed. Like I'm a new person and the old Callie truly did die that night."

Rebekah sighed. "I remember feeling like that once. It was the time my father killed us and made us become vampires."

"Ah, yes… My always-so-wonderful grandfather."

Her aunt chuckled and embraced Callie. "Don't worry too much about the past. Just… go to school tomorrow morning and live the life you want, ok? No one is forcing you to do what Nik wants."

Callie smiled weakly and embraced Rebekah too, holding on tightly to her for a moment and enjoying the fact that she did still have her aunt and uncle.

And friends too.

Nodding to herself, she decided to go to bed, but there still was one thing that kept nagging her and she knew that she couldn't go to bed without talking to that thing.

So she called Damon and hoped that he hadn't passed out from drinking so much or was somewhere in Las Vegas, compelling women to sleep with him.

"_I'm not in the mood, Ric!_" Damon snapped as soon as she came through.

Callie rolled her eyes. "It's not Ric. It's me, Callie." she said.

Damon fell silent.

"I don't really care if you believe I'm alive or not, but just know that if you don't stop the partying and the drinking then you truly will lose me."

Callie hung up and sighed heavily. She knew that it was harsh of her to do that to him, but he needed to understand that she was very much alive and needed him.

But just as Callie thought she could go to bed and rest, her phone suddenly started ringing and she saw a familiar name on the screen.

Marcus.

He was probably worried about her, but she didn't blame him. She did leave him at the caves and ran off without saying where she went.

"I'm fine, Marcus." she said, finally answering his call.

"_I'm still coming to you. Where are you now?_" Marcus demanded more than asked.

Callie sighed. "Home and I'm pretty tired, so meet me at the Grill tomorrow. Then we'll talk."

Marcus groaned. "_Ok, and if not then I'm dragging you to the Grill. We have to talk about what happened tonight._"

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	4. Falling In Love

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and alerts! ;D**

**- spoiler alert - if you haven't watched the new episode, then I suggest you do before reading this chap**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 4:

Callie was nervous when she arrived at Mystic Falls High School and even more nervous when she had to go to her first lesson. It was the first time in 1000 years she went to school and the beginning to her somewhat normal life.

To her luck not only Caroline and Elena were there, but also Alaric and Bonnie, but they were all pretty confused when they saw her at the school.

"Callie? What are you doing here?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"Going to school like you," she answered, smiling a little. "I know it must look weird, but… I've never lived a normal life and after everything I've been through I need to do at least one thing that's normal."

Caroline giggled. "Well, you shouldn't have picked the worst thing. School isn't exactly fun, right Elena?"

Elena smiled and shook her head. "I think it's good you want to do this, though. You deserve to feel normal at least once in your life."

Callie thanked her and was about to say something until she spotted her aunt down the hall. She needed to talk to her, so she said her goodbyes and tried catching up with Rebekah, who was on her way to have History.

"Bekah! Can I talk with you for a moment?" she asked, making the group of girls stop.

Rebekah looked at her friends for a moment and told them to go without her, then signed for Callie to follow her into the girls' restroom where they could talk alone.

"No one has annoyed you so far, yes? Because if there's someone who dares to–"

"Everyone has been kind so far, Rebekah. And if they're not then I'll compel them," Callie said, grinning. "I wanted to talk with you because I know that Nik is trying to find Finn, so he can undo the binding spell."

Rebekah sighed. "We're not letting Finn anywhere near you, Callie. He's not getting away with killing you."

"Yes, about that… I had time to think last night and I don't want you to hurt him for what he did. I… forgive him for it."

Rebekah's eyes widened. "You-what?"

Callie sighed and leaned against a wall. "I'm angry about what he did to me, but I understand why he did it and why he feels the need to kill every one of us. We're all monsters."

"No, we're not. You're still not yourself, Callie. I will hurt Finn for what he did and then I will hurt Damon for acting like such a dick after you died."

Rebekah left before Callie could say something and although a part of Callie felt that Finn deserved to be punished, then he was still her uncle and she loved him like she still loved Klaus.

"_Callie? You okay?_" a familiar voice said.

Callie frowned and groaned when she saw Marcus standing in the restroom, but now that he was here she figured that she might as well explain to him why she freaked out like that.

"Not really, no. But you do realize that this is the girls' restroom, right?" she said, smiling weakly.

Marcus grinned and quickly checked if they were alone in there before joining her at the wall. "So… you mind telling me what you're doing here?"

Callie sighed, but told him about how she needed to feel normal, how since she woke up from the dead she'd been feeling like her world had been turned upside down and that she was scared of dying again.

"I should go to class now, but thank you for being there for me."

She placed a kiss on his cheek and was about to leave, but he grabbed her wrist and pushed her against the wall, pressing his lips against hers with such passion that she couldn't resist the temptation to kiss him back.

It was obvious to her that his love for her had only grown and right now he seemed to be the only thing stabile in her life, so she wanted to hold on to him for a little longer and enjoy the moment even though her heart still belonged to Damon.

"_Hey! This is the girls' restroom, you know!_"

Callie blushed and Marcus pulled away, but he was smirking and didn't seem to care about getting caught kissing her.

"Are you still going to the Grill after school?" he asked quietly.

Callie nodded and he placed soft kiss on her lips before walking past Caroline and out of the restroom.

"Well, congratulations! You just did another normal thing – got caught making out with a boy on school grounds." Caroline said teasingly.

Callie blushed even more. "Oh shut up, Care!"

They both giggled and went to class, though, but throughout the entire day Callie couldn't stop thinking about the kiss she'd shared with Marcus. She did still love Damon, yes, but for some reason she didn't feel so guilty about kissing Marcus back.

Could she be falling in love with him again?

Callie groaned internally of the thought, but it did make sense and she did use to love him so much that she wanted to marry him.

Those kinds of feelings didn't just go away…

There was only one way to find out and that was by going to the Grill, so when she was done with her first day in school, she went to the Grill as planned and found Marcus at the bar, waiting for her no doubt.

"_Freya?_" another familiar voice said.

Callie felt her blood turn into ice and couldn't make herself say or do anything for several minutes.

He was back.

The man who killed her was back.

When she didn't say anything, Finn placed a hand on her shoulder and she instinctively turned around, slamming her fist right in his face so hard that he nearly fell to the floor.

The hit to the face caused the customers to look towards them and Marcus too saw her standing before the man who killed her with clenched fists.

Finn rubbed his jaw a little, but stood up and sent Sage, who stood right behind him, a look that made her leave and go to a table in the other end of the Grill.

"I deserved that for what I did to you," he said calmly, looking straight into her eyes. "But you have to understand that I knew you would wake up again. The necklace you wear is very powerful and can retrieve any supernatural being from the Other Side."

"And I forgive you for that, uncle. But I can't forget that you still did it to me. I'm your niece – not your enemy." Callie said.

Finn's eyes widened. "You forgive me?"

She nodded. "Where is my father? And my grandmother?"

His jaw tensed up and he looked away, looking troubled as if he wanted to tell her the truth, but wasn't allowed to do it.

"I don't know where your father is, but I briefly met him two days ago in Maryland."

"And Esther?"

He sighed. "You know I cannot tell you that."

Callie looked to Marcus, who now stood beside her, and then back at Finn. "Then I have nothing left to say to you. Goodbye, Finn."

She grabbed Marcus' arm and tried leaving, but Finn blocked her path. "I can help you contact him if you want me to… your grandmother too."

She shook her head. "You may be my uncle and have my forgiveness, but I don't trust you anymore, Finn."

This time Finn didn't stop her and they both left the Grill, going to the woods where Callie could calm down before she did something stupid that would draw people's attention.

Like destroying a statue or killing someone innocent.

"Hey, take it easy. I know you're pissed off, but you're going to need an oak tree stake from Stefan if you want to kill him." Marcus said.

Callie frowned and looked at him. "They found the ancient white oak tree?"

He realized something and groaned. "I'm sorry, Callie. I should've mentioned this earlier, but… they're planning to kill Klaus and the others. They've made several of stakes made of the tree and are waiting for the right opportunity to kill one of them."

"But then my father would die too… and– oh god! I have to stop them!"

Marcus quickly grabbed her before she could leave. "Callie, I know you love your family, but we have to stop Klaus and this is the only way to do it. You can't keep turning your blind eye to what he has done to everyone."

"You don't understand, Marcus! This isn't just about losing my entire family and I'm sorry about doing this, but I have to stop them!"

She broke his neck before he could stop her and ran as fast as she could back home, finding Klaus in the living room with none other than Bonnie. She was in the middle of doing a reversal spell, so it wasn't just her who knew the consequences of killing an Original.

"Callie! Good you're back. I'm unlinking all of us, which means your father will be safe soon." Klaus said calmly.

"I don't think that'll keep any of us safe, Klaus…" Callie said, watching Bonnie chanting ancient words.

Klaus frowned. "And why is that?"

"Marcus just told me that–"

The sound of someone screaming caught her attention and she was gone in a flash, bursting into the ballroom where Rebekah was in the middle of torturing Damon.

Damon's hands had been chained to the ceiling with what looked like sharp animal traps and his chest and neck had been cut repeatedly with a knife.

Underneath him was a pool of blood, so it seemed he'd been there for quite a while.

"Callie?" Damon said hoarsely, looking at her tiredly.

"Don't you dare freeing him, Callie! He deserves to suffer for playing with your and my heart," Rebekah snarled. "Tell her, Damon. Tell her how you tried seducing me, so that tramp could steal my thoughts!"

Callie looked to Damon and saw the look of guilt in his face. She sighed and walked up to him, cupping his face with her hands.

"Do you believe I am real now?" she asked quietly.

"I do…" he answered, almost inaudibly. "I'm sorry… for everything."

She sighed heavily and went to remove the chains from him, but Rebekah pulled her away from him and pinned her against a wall.

"I told you not to touch him! I don't know what has happened to you, but he is our enemy. He wants to kill every one of us – including your father. Do you want to see your father dead?"

"Of course not, but–"

"_No, buts! Either you're with us or against us. Which one is it then?_" Klaus snarled, walking into the room.

"No!" Callie pushed Rebekah away from her and turned to Klaus. "I'm not going to choose between my family and them! All this violence has to stop before we all end up dying!"

"Tell that to your friends. I've heard that Stefan killed Finn only a few minutes ago and you know what that means. If the same thing that happened to him happens to your dear aunt, then you're going to end up dead too."

Damon's eyes widened and she met his worried gaze briefly before turning hers back to Klaus. "I know and that's why I came. I don't want any of you to die. But I don't have time to stand here and argue with you two… Damon needs my help."

Callie walked up to Damon and freed him from the chains, just holding him close to her for a moment until his wounds had healed up.

"You… should've told us… that you… would die too." Damon said, panting slightly.

"And you should've told me that you were planning to kill my family," Callie said, helping him stand up. "Let's just go home and then we can talk about whose fault this was."

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	5. Unfinished Business

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and alerts! ;D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 5:

"Here," Callie said, handing Damon a glass of blood. "Are all of your wounds all healed up?"

Damon looked wearily at her and nodded, taking a swig of his drink and pulled his blood smeared shirt off, throwing it in the dirty clothes bin and going into the bathroom to shower.

Callie stayed in his bedroom while he showered and took a look around in the familiar room where she and Damon had spent many nights together.

Once Damon returned from his shower and was fully dressed again, he finished his drink and turned his attention back to her, uncertain of what to say.

"How did you get back?" he asked, frowning.

"Magic, I guess. I'm not completely sure yet, but it doesn't matter," she answered. "How many of those stakes are there?"

"Twelve, but I'm sure that they're all gone now. They were the last of the white oak tree."

Callie sighed of relief and as she did she spotted something on Damon's dresser – a picture of her that he or someone else had taken at some point during the night she was killed.

In the picture she was smiling and looked so carefree that she almost couldn't recognize herself. It was as if she couldn't remember anything of how she used to be before she died.

Callie opened her mouth to say something and suddenly felt Damon wrap his arms around her from behind and his lips at her neck, inhaling her scent and kissing her skin softly.

"I've missed you so much, Callie…" he said, the feeling of his familiar touch waking up something inside her.

"I've missed you too, Damon… but I can't forget all the things you've done in my absence _and_ presence." Callie said softly.

She turned around and looked deep into his eyes. "And what about us? Are we… still us?"

Callie thought about the kiss she'd shared with Marcus and knew in her heart that she still had some feelings for him that she hadn't truly lost.

"Honestly? I don't know. Everything has changed so much, Damon. I have changed and I know now that I still have some unfinished business with Marcus."

Damon's jaw tensed up and she saw his fists clench too. It didn't take a genius to see that he was pissed off about her still being in love with Marcus.

"Callie, you're mine and if Marcus as much as tries to kiss you, then–"

"You can't hurt Marcus! He's over 400 years old and I don't want you to hurt him either."

He shook his head. "I don't care. I'm not giving you to anyone."

Callie watched as he stormed out of the room and wished that she hadn't told him the truth, because now he was hell-bent on showing Marcus that he owned her.

Callie was too tired to deal with this and she had homework to do too, so she left a note to Damon on his bed and went back home.

She was surprised when she entered her home to find Kol now in the living room, looking at a stake made of white oak tree while Klaus burned the rest of it in the fireplace.

"There she is! Our epic and adorable little niece who returned from the dead!" Kol said as soon as he saw her.

"Kol!" Rebekah said warningly, throwing a pillow in his head.

Kol frowned. "What? She is epic, isn't she?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes and walked up to her, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't try making you torture Damon – even though he deserved it."

Callie shrugged and turned her gaze back to her uncles. "I'll be upstairs doing my homework if you need me." she said.

She began walking towards the staircase, but Kol swiftly blocked her path and stood before her with a frown on his face.

"Excuse me? You're actually going to do your homework?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, I am," Callie answered coldly, glaring at him. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Kol looked baffled, but he shook his head and stepped aside, allowing her to go upstairs and do her homework. She found it a little amusing that she managed to scare Kol and mentally reminded herself to do that again soon.

And after she'd done her homework she did sneak downstairs again as Kol was having a drink and ran up behind him, trying to spook him but ending up getting thrown at the couch instead.

"You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to scare me, sweetie!" he said, chuckling.

"I'll get you when you least expect it," Callie said teasingly. "Where have you been anyway?"

He shrugged. "Around… Denver… doing Klaus' dirty work. What about you?"

"Besides being six feet underground? Around too."

Kol groaned and sat down next to her on the couch, handing her a drink. "I hear you've changed."

She nodded. "I've just been really confused. That's why I started in school, but it's a tad strange for me to listen to all those girls talk about Twilight and God knows what else. I have no idea what they talk about sometimes and just nods or agree with them."

Kol chuckled. "Welcome to the modern girl world (!) But I take that you haven't heard from your father yet, yes?"

Callie nodded again and sighed. "I wish I knew where he was. I really miss him even though he could be annoying at times and strict."

"Yeah, same here… he may be a total buzz kill, but Elijah… he's always loyal and cares about all of us – more than Finn ever did."

"I'm sorry about what happened to Finn, though. He didn't deserve to die."

Kol frowned again. "Damn, you really lost your mind when you died. The guy killed you! I'd understand if he just broke your neck, but he actually drove a stake through your heart!"

Callie sighed. "I know…" She took a sip of her drink and looked at him. "You know about my relationship with Marcus, right?"

Kol thought about it. "Oh, you mean that little punk who likes to get into fight! Yes, I've heard about him and how you married and then divorced him – which I truly don't understand. Marriage sucks!"

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head of him. "Marriage doesn't suck. I actually liked being married to him… just not when he got wasted, began hitting on strangers and gambled all of his money away."

Her uncle grinned. "I would too if I was married to you."

Callie punched him hard on his arm, making him chuckle again. "Lighten up, Freya! I knew your mom pretty well and she was far from boring – unlike your dad."

"Oh God, please say that you never slept with her."

Kol scrunched up his nose. "What do you think of me? A strumpet? I did try, of course, but she turned me down and called me a downright manwhore."

Callie burst out laughing and shook her head. "Yep, that sounds like Mom alright! But I don't blame her. You _are_ a downright manwhore. Rebekah has told me all the stories about when you were a human."

He rolled his eyes and pushed her off the couch, throwing a pillow at her. "Go to bed, you little baby!"

She rolled her eyes too, but finished what was left of her drink and threw a pillow back in Kol's face as she walked past him and back upstairs.

It was as she was getting ready to go to bed that her phone suddenly started ringing and she saw that someone unknown was calling her, making her frown and answer the call.

"Hello? Who is this?" she asked hesitantly.

"_Freya, it's me_." Elijah answered.

Callie gasped and nearly dropped the phone, but she managed to catch it before it hit the floor.

"Dad! Oh God, I'm so happy you called! Where are you?"

"_I… I'm not far…_" His voice was raspy as if he hadn't slept for days. "_Freya, are you okay? Are you home?_"

"Yes, I'm home. Klaus, Rebekah and Kol have taken good care of me – well mostly Bekah."

"_And… Finn?_"

Callie sighed heavily. "He… died today. Klaus made Bonnie break the spell that links all of you together and then I believe Elena killed him with a stake made of the white oak tree."

"_What? But we burned the tree down…_"

"I know, but another tree was planted after that and the tree was then chopped down to build Wickery Bridge. But all the stakes were burned today and they know now that if they kill Rebekah then I will die too."

Elijah sighed and groaned a little. "_Stay where you are and don't do anything foolish. I will return as soon as I have finished the business I have with Esther._"

"But Dad, you–"

"_I love you, Freya, but that woman destroyed our family and she let you die._"

"But I don't want you to kill her! She's your mother and although what Finn did to me was wrong, then he still was my uncle and I forgave him for hurting me. That's what a family does! Even vampire families…"

"_Freya… that woman stopped being my mother a long time ago. Please stay out of this matter and stay with your family. I don't want to lose you again._"

"And I don't want to lose you either! That's why I want you to come home. Please. I've missed you so much and need you in my life."

Elijah sighed again. "_I'm sorry, but I have to do this._"

He hung up and she groaned aloud, feeling tempted to throw something against the wall. She was happy to hear her father's voice, but she was scared that his need to have revenge would get himself killed someday…

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	6. Let Go

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and alerts! ;D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 6:

The next morning when Callie went to school she was pleasantly surprised to find Marcus waiting for her in the school parking lot – with a school bag of his own.

"So you're going back to school too? Aren't you a little too old for that?" she asked teasingly.

"Says the 1000 years old vampire…" Marcus answered teasingly, leaning down to kiss her.

Callie hesitated at first and he quickly noticed that, pulling away with a frown. "Oh…"

"No, it's not what you think! It's just that… It's such a long time since we've been together. It feels weird."

Marcus grinned and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "It feels weird to me too, but I'm so happy to have you back."

Callie smiled and this time when he leaned down to kiss her she didn't move away and let him kiss her, wrapping her own arms around his neck and kissing him back.

Of course she missed Damon, but right now she needed something stabile in her life and that was Marcus and after how Damon and the others almost killed her entire family, then she wanted to keep a distance with all of them for some time.

"Get a hotel room, you two lovebirds!" Rebekah said, interrupting their kiss.

Callie pulled away and blushed as she looked at her aunt, who just grinned and continued walking inside to her friends.

"Well, that wasn't awkward… at all." Marcus said sarcastically.

"Nope, not at all," Callie said and laughed. "Well… we better get to class."

Marcus nodded, but as they began walking towards the school Callie felt her cell phone ringing and frowned when she saw that it was Damon.

"I… have to take this call. You go ahead without me. I'll catch up with you eventually."

He frowned too, but gave her one more soft kiss and then walked inside with all of the others. Callie sighed heavily and finally answered the call.

"Yes, Damon?" she said.

"_Turn around_." Damon said, standing right behind her.

Callie rolled her eyes and turned around to face him. "Please don't say that you're starting in school too now?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course not, but I see that you're enjoying your 'normal' teenage life with Marcus…"

She groaned. "Damon, I don't expect you to understand why I do what I do, but–"

"I want you to look me in my eyes and tell me that you don't love me anymore. If you can do that then I'll leave you alone."

Of course she couldn't do that because she did still love him and wished that they could go back to how things were before Klaus came to town.

"If you still love me, then why are you with him? What do you think he can give you that I can't?"

"I don't know, Damon! I don't know… I just really need him to be in my life right now, because ever since I returned I've felt like I didn't have anyone I could truly count on besides him. He's _always_ been there for me."

Damon said nothing and for a long while they just stood there, looking at each other, until Callie finally decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry I can't be yours, but I need some peace in my life or else something really bad _will_ happen and I'm afraid that I'll be the cause of it."

She sighed and went inside, leaving him alone out in the parking lot while she went to class with Marcus, who thankfully didn't seem to have overheard her conversation with Damon.

Callie couldn't concentrate on anything that morning and when her second school day ended, she decided to go back to the cave Marcus had shown her.

She didn't know why she was going back, but she just felt like she needed to be there and finish the business she had with it before she could focus on all her other problems.

For a long time she just stood in front of the cave's entrance and tried convincing herself that nothing bad would happen to her if she went inside the cave, but the memory of her waking up in a dark coffin still haunted her mind.

"_Shouldn't you be in school?_" Klaus suddenly asked.

"I have been in school, but shouldn't you be finding the missing stake?" Callie answered grumpily.

Klaus smirked and walked up to her, frowning when he looked inside the cave. "I don't remember seeing this cave before…"

"It's my cave, so don't even think about going inside."

He raised an eyebrow. "Your cave? Then why are you standing out here?"

She blushed and looked away. "I'll go inside… eventually."

Klaus chuckled and began walking towards the cave, but when he walked inside he was suddenly struck by an unknown force that threw him out again.

"See! It's my cave!" Callie said, smirking smugly.

"Whatever," Klaus muttered, brushing the dirt off his pants. "But just so you know, then your father is back. He's waiting for you at home."

That caught Callie's attention and she left without hesitation, running as fast as she could back to the Mikaelson Mansion and near enough jumping on her father, who was in fact waiting for her.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "I'm so happy you changed your mind!"

Elijah smiled and hugged her back, but she could see in his eyes that he wasn't only back because he'd changed his mind.

"Actually, I came because I've heard that Esther has returned…" he said.

Callie groaned. "Would you please let that go? Your brother is dead and your daughter has returned from the dead and all you can think of is that you want to kill your mother?"

Elijah sighed. "I am grateful to see you alive again, but Finn…" He shook his head. "He got what he deserved and soon your grandmother will too."

She felt like slapping him, but she decided to take a deep breath and stay calm. "Dad, I love you and all, but what you are doing is idiotic and you're not going to get anything from killing Esther."

That seemed to change something inside him and he began looking at her in a whole new way as if he'd realized something.

"You've changed, Freya."

She nodded. "I have. I learned to let go of the hatred and you should too. It's not worth wasting your time hating someone… wow that sounded so smart."

Elijah chuckled softly and pulled her into his embrace. "My sweet little Freya… If your mother could see you now she would be so proud of you. You're the most honorable person in this family."

"That might be, but I'm far from perfect. I can't even go inside a cave without freaking out and have to sleep with the light on. How pathetic is that?"

He sighed and looked into her eyes, caressing her cheeks gently. "I understand that you're scared, but you need to overcome your fears or else they will take control of your life."

"I–"

There was a knock on the door and it only took Callie a few seconds to find out that it was Marcus, who was quickly let inside by Rebekah.

"Is he your new boyfriend?" she asked teasingly.

"What?" Elijah said confusedly. "I thought you were dating Damon…?"

"I…" Callie blushed. "We broke up. I'm with Marcus again."

Elijah frowned and looked at Marcus, but didn't say anything. He just nodded and walked out of the room, making Rebekah laugh.

"I think you just made him feel awkward. I would too if my daughter suddenly got a new boyfriend without telling me…" she said. "Why is it exactly that you haven't told us anything?"

"I haven't had the time to tell you, but could I get to talk with Marcus alone for a moment? Without you eavesdropping on me?" Callie asked.

Rebekah rolled her eyes, but nodded and left. Just to be completely sure, then Callie took Marcus with her upstairs to her bedroom.

"Whoa, this place is huge! Your uncle certainly didn't save any money on this building project." Marcus said, looking curiously around in her bedroom.

"Yeah, he wanted the best for his family… but why are you here?" Callie asked.

"What? I can't visit my girlfriend anymore if I miss her?" he answered teasingly.

"Of course you can, but… Klaus did try to kill you, remember?"

Marcus shrugged. "So did you once, but I forgave you. Besides, you seemed a little upset in school, so I thought I'd come talk with you about it. Are you okay?"

Callie sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind right now."

He frowned but nodded and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry so much about the future, Callie. You can't predict what will happen."

"I could once, you know. When I was still a human and a witch."

Marcus grinned. "I remember. You won't stop bragging about it whenever you get drunk."

She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I miss being human sometimes… I miss that my life was simple even though I hated living with my stepfather."

"I hated my human life, but you already knew that. You did turn me and got me away from the streets… Thank you for doing that by the way."

She sighed and planted a kiss on his cheek, still half-wishing that she was still with Damon, but she knew that she wasn't ready to have him in her life yet.

And from the way he reacted to her death, then she knew he wasn't ready yet either.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	7. The Missing Stake

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews and I apologize for the late update (my muse got kidnapped!)**

Chapter 7:

"_Callie, it's almost 8:00 o'clock!_" Elijah yelled outside Callie's bedroom.

The 1000 years old vampire groaned and hid herself under the covers, but as she did she felt that she wasn't alone.

It was hard getting used to the fact that Marcus was now her boyfriend and even though she did still love Damon, then it felt nice to have some stability in her life.

"_Callie, don't make me send your uncle inside._"

She looked at Marcus who was awake too and grinned. "That depends. Which uncle are you talking about?" she asked.

"_Since Kol is still out of town, then I guess it will be Niklaus and just a little warning… we share the same feeling about your boyfriend spending the night here, so–_"

Callie's eyes widened. "Okay, okay I'll come now!"

She heard her father and Klaus chuckle from outside the hallway and blushed, then looked to Marcus who was smirking smugly.

"Wipe that damn smirk off your mouth!" she said, pushing him off the bed.

"I'm sorry, Callie, but it is a little fun that you're blushing so much. What on earth is Klaus going to do to me? If he kills me then he'll have to deal with you and I don't think he wants that." Marcus said teasingly, crawling back up into the bed.

"You underestimating my uncle then, but you have school too so get up!"

Marcus chuckled but stepped off the bed and got ready with Callie, making their way downstairs to the dining room where Rebekah, Klaus and Elijah were enjoying a glass of human blood.

"Oh… awkward…" Callie said and couldn't stop herself from giggling. "Just pretend that you didn't notice Marcus."

She grabbed Marcus by his arm and was on her way out of the dining room again, but Klaus suddenly stood before her, blocking her path.

"You're not going anywhere with him today," he said. "I need your help."

"No way! I decided to go to school for a reason, so ask Rebekah if–"

"_Freya, it's important,_" Elijah said, stepping out from the dining room. "It'll only take about a day."

"Well, if you're not going then I'm not going either." Marcus said.

"This is family business, _Marcus._ Last I checked you weren't a part of this family anymore." Klaus said, smirking smugly.

Marcus was about to snap at him, but Callie quickly covered his mouth with her hand and pulled him into another room.

"It's ok, Marcus. Just go to school or help the others if they need it. I'll call you if anything happens." she said softly.

"Ok, but just be careful not to get dragged into their drama again. You're the one who wanted a normal life, right?" he said.

She sighed. "Right and I still want that. But first I have to help my family."

He nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving the mansion. Callie groaned quietly and walked back into the dining room to her family.

"What's going on now?" she asked grumpily.

"We have to find and destroy that missing stake before someone – say that idiotic ex-boyfriend of yours – try staking one of us." Rebekah answered.

Callie sighed. "Damon wouldn't do that. He knows the risk and that he could end up killing himself in the process."

"That might be, but I've heard that his friend Alaric Saltzman has developed an alter ego and that alter ego might want us dead." Elijah said.

"I've already talked with Damon about this. He said that Ric doesn't know where the last stake is."

"Then you better start helping us find it before it's used against us." Klaus said grumpily and left the mansion as well.

Callie rolled her eyes. "I'll do what I can, but where do we even start looking? We don't know what goes on in Ric's alter ego's crazy mind." she said.

"No, but the spirits talk and I was hoping that you would allow me to contact your mother. Perhaps she can assist us in our search." Elijah said.

Callie hesitated. It wasn't because she wasn't happy to see her mother again, but the last time she did meet her was when she died and went to the Other Side.

"I'll call the witch now." Rebekah said, sending Elijah a look before leaving the room that caught Callie's attention.

Elijah sighed heavily and cupped Callie's face in his hands, caressing her cheeks gently and distracting her from the memory of the Other Side.

"Are you going to tell me what happened between you and Damon now that we're alone?" he asked worriedly.

"There's nothing to talk about," Callie answered and looked away. "We… just broke up."

"So it wasn't because he began drinking and sleeping with unknown women?"

Callie felt her heart twinge and looked at her father again. "It wasn't just because of that. I still love Damon, but I can't be with him right now. Not with everything that's going on and Marcus… I miss what I had with him. I miss feeling carefree."

"I understand and I've been in your situation before…"

Callie sent him a look that made him flush a little. "You've been in _my_ situation? Really, Dad?"

He nodded. "A little time after your mother and I… um… made you, I was still in love with this beautiful young woman, whom Klaus also loved."

"Oh, you mean Tatia?"

He nodded again and cleared his throat. "You already know that both Klaus and I refused to give up on her, but even though I felt safe and normal with Tatia, then I wasn't nearly as happy as I was with Serena… despite the fact that my father despised her and disliked her heritage."

"So you're saying that I should be with Damon even though it's dangerous and risky?"

Elijah shook his head. "I'm saying that you should be with the person you feel most happy with – no matter what the circumstances are. It was still risky for me to be with Tatia even though my father didn't forbid me to see her at first."

"Oh… I see." Callie frowned. "That doesn't really help on my situation. I don't know who I mostly want to be with because they're both so alike and still so different."

"Then wait, but don't wait for too long or else you might lose the one you really want."

She knew exactly who he meant by that. He was talking about Damon and even though Callie knew that Elena was still in love with Stefan, then she knew that she and Damon had some unresolved feelings for each other.

"_The witch will be here in about five minutes,_" Rebekah said, returning from the living room. "Are you ready, Callie?"

Callie looked at her father for a moment and took a deep breath to calm herself down before nodding.

"Maybe I can ask Mom about the cave too now that I'm at it…" she said.

Rebekah and Elijah both frowned. "Oh, yes! Nik did tell us that you'd found a new cave somewhere in the woods and that he couldn't get in. What exactly is inside it?"

Callie shrugged. "I don't know yet. I… didn't get that far in solving the cave's mystery."

"Be careful, Freya. Some caves are not meant to be entered or looked around in." Elijah said.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Stop fussing so much over her. She's 1000 years old! It's not like she's a normal 18 year old or anything and even when she was one she was still badass enough to survive meeting me."

Callie shook her head of Rebekah as her aunt laughed while Elijah chuckled softly. She didn't mind him fussing so much over her because she'd missed all of him – even his annoying sides.

She tried forgetting about her love life when the witch finally came and just hoped that her mother could give her some answers to her questions.

The 35-year-old witch Fiona began on a summoning ritual as soon as she arrived, because they had no time to waste if they wanted to find the missing stake as soon as possible.

"I hear that you used to be a witch, so you must be familiar with a summoning spell," Fiona said with a Texan accent. "First we draw blood, then we use an object of the deceased and–"

"And then we say the spell," Callie finished and nodded. "I remember."

Fiona nodded and they began the ritual, both taking a seat at the dinner table and lightening the five candles they needed.

Once they were seated and ready, Fiona cut Callie's hand and dripped her blood on Callie's necklace that lay in the middle of the circle of candles.

As Fiona began chanting the ancient words Callie could immediately sense her mother's presence and tried preparing herself for the bad memories that would soon return to her mind.

"She's here," Fiona said, letting go of Callie's hands. "Can you feel it?"

Callie opened her eyes and felt her mother standing beside her. She looked to her left and smiled as she saw Serena standing there – fully visible to everyone.

"Hello my child," she said, smiling too. "And hello again, Elijah."

Callie looked at her father and could see that he was just as happy to see Serena as she was, while Rebekah remained unaffected by everything.

"It's nice to see you again, Mother. But… we didn't just summon you to see you." Callie said.

Serena nodded. "I know you have questions and I will gladly answer them, but do know that there are some things that even I cannot tell you about…"

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	8. Hurt

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and alerts! ;D**

**Enjoy! **

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 8:

"Where's the last stake?" Callie asked as the first thing. "Where did Alaric hide it?"

Serena took a sip of her cup of tea that Elijah had provided her and looked like she was deep in her thoughts for a moment before she answered.

"I have heard talk about a man – a hunter – that went to the old caves, but I do not know where he specifically hid it. I only know that he spent a long time in there," she said and turned her gaze to her daughter. "I also know that you have visited our family cave..."

Callie nodded and sat down next to her mother at the table. "I didn't stay for long, though. I… couldn't." she said, feeling her cheeks turn rosy of embarrassment.

Serena raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask why she hadn't stayed in there and merely picked up her necklace from the circle of candles instead, touching the beautiful amber stone gently.

It began lightly up like it'd done when she died and went to the Other Side.

"This stone was used in the spell when the first werewolves were created…" she said. "It has been in our family for generations and it helped me resurrect you. It can still be used for many great things, but since you are no longer a witch then you cannot use its power."

"Oh…"

Of course Callie was grateful of that her mother had saved her life, but a part of her wished that she was able to use the necklace and that it could keep her from dying the next time someone tried staking her.

"And the cave? What is hidden in it?"

"There's something inside the cave?" Rebekah asked curiously. "A weapon?"

Serena shook her head. "I am not allowed to tell you that, because Freya has to find it herself. It is only hers to take and use." she answered.

"Do you know where Esther is?" Elijah asked, sounding eager to get his revenge on his mother.

"I do, Elijah. But I am not going to tell you because I agree with Freya on that revenge will not solve anything. She is your mother and Finn has paid for his crime." Serena answered firmly.

Elijah didn't look pleased with the answer, but Callie was because then she could finally make him realize that he was only putting himself in danger by going after his mother.

"_Ah, Serena! How wonderful it is to see you again!_" Klaus said, returning from his search.

Serena rolled her eyes and groaned, making Callie giggle and Elijah sigh. They were all thinking about the same and remembered that Serena and Klaus had unfinished business.

"Hello, Niklaus… still alive and breathing, I see," Serena said sarcastically and met his gaze. "I should punish you for what you put my daughter through, but I think I will let Elijah do that."

"Trust me, I will do that eventually and it will not be pleasant," Elijah said. "But we do not have time to talk about what Klaus did and didn't do to my daughter."

"Precisely and especially since it seems that your ex-boyfriend and the doppelganger has gone to Denver to find out which one of us created their bloodline, so they know who not to stake." Klaus said, his gaze falling immediately on Callie.

Callie groaned and rubbed her temples, trying har to understand why Damon would do that when he knew that she didn't want to see anyone from her family dead.

"Wait, why are they in Denver? There's only…" Callie finally realized why they were there. "It's because of Jeremy, isn't it?"

Klaus nodded, but before he could say something, but Rebekah beat him to it. "Really, Callie? You're not the slightest concerned about the fact that Damon and Elena are on a road trip together?"

Callie felt the jealousy boil inside her. Of course she wasn't happy about that, but she was in no position to dictate what Damon was and wasn't allowed to do… or more like _who_ he wasn't allowed to do.

"I'm not with Damon anymore," she answered casually. "But I'll go stop them immediately. Isn't Kol also in Denver?"

Klaus nodded again and Callie noticed that for a brief moment all eyes were on her, but she didn't say anything and merely left the room after giving her mother a brief hug.

She knew what they were all thinking and she didn't need them to worry about her more than they already did, so she left the house and went on a road trip of her own to Denver.

She didn't want to text Marcus and let him know where she was, because the thought of her going to see her ex-boyfriend might make him worried.

Callie arrived in Denver in the middle of the afternoon and began looking for her friends as well as maniac of a uncle in places where they might be.

It took almost half an hour before she finally spotted Kol going to the baseball batting cages and she quickly followed him, hoping that he knew where Damon and Elena were but also wondering why on earth he was even there.

She was more than a little shocked when she walked in on Kol, hitting Damon in the face with a baseball bat that then broke because it was made of wood.

"Kol! What the hell are you doing?" she yelled, catching their attention.

Kol looked surprised to see her, but he ignored her angry outburst and grabbed another baseball bat – one that was made of aluminum.

"Just let me do this, Callie," he said, taking an aim. "Damon broke your heart, snapped my neck and killed my brother, so I feel that I'm entitled to knock some senses into his thick skull!"

Callie rolled her eyes and quickly grabbed a bat when Kol went to hit Damon again, breaking it in half and using the sharp pointed end to stake her uncle, killing him temporarily.

Damon and Elena both looked shocked about what she'd just done and as much as she didn't want to do it, then she couldn't let him hurt Damon like that.

"You ok?" she asked casually, ignoring the fact that her uncle was lying semi-dead on the floor next to her.

Damon nodded, still too stunned to say anything at first. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm here to talk with you, but if I were you then I'd leave before Kol wakes up." she answered.

They nodded in agreement and left the batting cages with Jeremy, who apparently had no idea that his new friend was an Original sent to keep an eye on him.

To make sure that Kol didn't find them, they decided to go to a motel and it was then Callie learned that they wanted Jeremy to contact Rose, so they could find out who turned her.

"I understand that you're eager to find out who started your bloodline, but you should've told me about it. Even if you do believe that I will stop you from killing whoever you decide to kill." Callie said.

Damon shrugged and looked away, avoiding her gaze on purpose. It hurt a little that he was so hostile towards her, but she didn't have time to deal with that.

"I'm sorry Callie, but we just want to be sure that Klaus isn't the one who started their bloodline because if he is then he'll be unstoppable." Elena said.

"You shouldn't be here, Callie. If you don't want to help us, then you're against us and that means that–"

"Rose is here." Jeremy interrupted, but the damage had already been done.

It was clear to Callie now that Damon hated her for breaking up with him and saw her as the enemy as long as she helped her family.

"Fine, I'll leave then, but just know that I won't help you find the vampire who turned Rose then. I know who it was and I also know where she lives." Callie said, disappearing before they could say something.

She was hurt to the core and wished that she didn't have to choose between her family and friends all the time.

What was wrong with wanting to keep her family together and alive?

Should she just let them kill her uncle?

Callie sighed heavily and suddenly felt her cell phone vibrating in her pocket, so she took it out and answered the call, not bothering to check who it was.

"Yes?" she said wearily.

"_WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?_" Kol screamed into her ear.

Callie moved the phone away from her ear for a moment before answering his question. "Sorry, Kol. I had to do it but I'm starting to regret that I stopped you."

Kol was speechless for a few minutes and then asked. "_Did something happen? You want me to kill Damon because I will gladly do it!_"

She rolled her eyes. "It's nothing. Where are you?"

"_I'm just outside the batting cages, but I'm heading to visit an old friend of our family. You know Mary Porter?_"

She smirked a little, thinking back to the time she'd been looking for her father and accidentally ran into Mary Porter, who'd supposedly had an affair of sorts with him.

"Yeah, I've met her. I'll meet you at her home."

She hung up and headed straight to Kansas where Mary currently lived in her clattered house, but as she arrived at the house she heard a scream coming from inside it.

Callie stormed inside and ran swiftly upstairs, finding Mary pinned against the wall with something wooden penetrating her chest.

She didn't have to ask to know who was behind her death.

"Did you really have to kill her?" she asked, turning to Kol who sat nearby the dead Original vampire groupie.

Kol smirked. "Yes, I don't need Damon asking her questions about who turned her." he answered.

"You truly are an idiot sometimes, but which one of you did turn her? She never told me."

He shrugged. "That's a secret I won't reveal. Have you figured out where that last stake is yet?"

Callie nodded and smirked smugly. "I'm not telling you, though, unless you tell me who turned Mary."

Kol laughed dryly. "Ha-ha, very funny (!) It doesn't matter anyway. The others can find it while we're here…" He suddenly turned his head to the entrance of the room and smirked again. "Now the fun begins. You better not stop me again sweetheart or I might want to hurt you."

She frowned but then she heard Elena's voice from downstairs and realized that Damon and Elena had gone to find Mary as well.

It didn't surprise her that Rose would tell them about who turned her, but she did wish that she hadn't done it.

Before Damon and Elena entered the room and saw that Mary was dead, Callie decided to go into another room and hid herself, wanting not to face Damon again after what he'd said to her.

She overheard their conversation and even though it pained her, then she let Kol hit Damon with his bat again, but she did stop Kol from hurting Elena when she tried escaping the room.

"Touch her and I will break your fingers!" she hissed in his face.

He just shrugged and turned his attention back to Damon, hitting him hard with the bat one more time and enjoying his revenge.

"Let's go, Callie. We're done here." Kol said, tossing his broken baseball bat aside.

Callie looked at Damon as he was clutching his sore stomach and wanted to stay with him so she could show that she was still on their side.

"_Callie._" Kol repeated impatiently.

She turned her gaze from Damon to her uncle and finally followed him out of the house and into his car, driving back to Mystic Falls with him.

She was quiet during most of the trip home and just sat in her seat with her head leaning against the window, thinking about how badly her relationship with Damon had turned out after she died.

They'd lost each other somewhere in the middle of the chaos and now they were holding on to the past to get some balance back in their lives.

Well, she wasn't sure if Damon was still in love with Elena, but the way he'd tried to protect her too made her wonder if something had happened between them.

"Are you going to tell me what happened between the two of you today or do you want me to start guessing?" Kol asked when they were halfway home.

"Damon is just pissed off about me coming here to stop them from finding out who turned Mary," she answered hesitantly. "He sees me as the enemy now."

Kol shrugged. "If that's true, then I'll personally make sure that he doesn't lay a finger on you or Rebekah. Your family will always watch your back, Callie. Always."

**A/N 2: Just wanted to clarify something before we move on to the next chap. The Delena kiss that happened in this episode also happens here, but of course Callie doesn't know about it yet, but I can reveal that the kiss will change a lot ****between**** Damon and Callie ;)**

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	9. 20s Decade Dance

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the wonderful reviews, favs and alerts! ;D**

**Here's a long chappie and if I get 5 reviews before tonight, then I'll upload another chap**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 9:

As awkward and uncomfortable as it was to go to school, then Callie refused to let her past take control over her life and when she'd heard that her aunt was in the committee that arranged the 20s Decade Dance she wanted to offer her help – even if she was going to meet Elena again.

The 1000 years old vampire walked into the gym where the dance would be held and spotted Caroline with Elena, talking about why Rebekah would want to have such a hideous chandelier to hang in the gym.

Callie took a deep breath and then walked up to the pair, catching their attention immediately and for some reason her presence made Elena's heart beat faster and her cheeks turn slightly red.

Was she scared of her?

The last thing she wanted was that her friends were scared of her – even if she did come from a family of Originals who had hurt her in the past.

"Hi, I… I'm here to offer my help," Callie said hesitantly. "Is there something I can help with?"

Caroline and Elena both sent each other a meaningful look and then turned their attention back to Callie.

"Sure! Since your aunt isn't here as she was supposed to, then maybe you can help us with this thing." Caroline said, handing her the chandelier.

Callie nodded and was about to leave, but Elena ran up to her and stopped her, pulling her aside for a moment because she wanted to talk with her.

"Um, Callie, there's something I need to tell you," she said very hesitantly. "When I went to Denver with Damon we…" She sighed and tried again. "We kissed."

Of course Callie wasn't surprised to hear that after everything she and Damon had been through, but it still hurt a lot and made her want to strangle Damon.

"And?" she asked uncaringly, trying her best not to show her pain.

Elena's eyes widened a little of the reaction. "Aren't you angry? He is your ex-boyfriend and I know how you feel about–"

"I don't feel anything for him, Elena. I appreciate your honesty, but I'm with Marcus now and Damon doesn't seem to have any intention of trying to get me back, so if you want him then I won't stop you."

The doppelganger frowned and looked worried, but Callie really didn't want to have that conversation with her, so she walked away and began helping decorating the gym with all the other students, trying not to think about how Damon broke her heart and she broke his.

"_Hello, gorgeous,_" a familiar voice said and familiar arms wrapped around her waist. "Why didn't you say that you were back?"

Callie turned to face Marcus and pushed her problems away, wanting to enjoy being with him again and showing him that she did love him back.

It wasn't fair that she was spending so much time thinking about Damon while all he thought about was her.

"I'm sorry. I was pretty tired when I got home. I'm never sitting in the same car with Kol again!" she said and giggled.

Marcus chuckled and moved a hand to her cheek, caressing it gently before leaning in to kiss her. It did feel good to feel his lips against hers again and she had missed him.

But their sweet and passionate kiss was interrupted by the sound of Callie's phone ringing in her pocket.

She took it out and groaned when she saw that it was Klaus, because she knew that he never called unless he wanted her to do something for him.

"Yes?" she said dispassionately.

"_Is it really _that_ horrible that I call you?_" Klaus asked teasingly.

"Yeah, because you always want me to do something or come with bad news."

He groaned. "_You may be right about that. I need you to come home when you're done decorating the gym._"

"What? Why?"

"_I'll tell you later. Just get here and don't bring your boyfriend with you._"

Callie frowned, but before she could ask he hung up on her. She rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to Marcus who'd probably overheard the conversation.

"I'm really starting to dislike your uncle again." he said.

"Me too. He's so bossy and acts like he's everyone's dad," she said. "But let's just finish this, shall we?"

Marcus nodded and helped her getting the rest of the decoration up and for a few hours Callie was able to feel like a normal teenage girl.

Once they were done decorating Callie kissed Marcus goodbye and went home, finding her family gathered the living room – all with a frown on their face.

"Did something happen?" she asked worriedly.

"No, but the reason why I called you is to tell you that we're leaving Mystic Falls today." Klaus answered.

Callie's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"I am sick and tired of your friends trying to kill us. The best thing for us to do is leaving and living in peace somewhere far away from them."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing and turned to Elijah, but he seemed like he agreed with his younger brother.

"It's not safe to live here, Callie. You can bring Marcus with you if you want to, but we _are_ leaving today." he said.

"You can't be serious! Why do we all have to go? Why can't I stay here?"

"I agree, Nik. It's not fair that we have to go too." Rebekah said.

Callie hadn't noticed it before but when she looked at Rebekah she felt like something had changed about her aunt.

And not in a good way.

"We are a family and we go together." Klaus said.

"But I've been looking so much forward to the dance tonight! And I just started in school! You want me to just drop out and start in another school?" Callie whined.

"Oh let the girls go to their party!" Kol said. "We can always leave tomorrow or next week."

"Three against two. I think we won that!" Callie said, smirking smugly.

Both Klaus and Elijah shook their head of her. "Fine. One more day and then we're leaving. End of discussion." Klaus said.

Rebekah smirked but there was something sinister about the smirk that made Callie shudder. She ignored the strange sensation and decided to go upstairs and get ready for the dance.

She borrowed one of Rebekah's dresses from the 1920s and styled her hair the same way she'd done it in the 20s, but only this time she showed a little more leg and wore dark red lipstick.

"_Your annoying date is here!_" Klaus yelled from outside her room.

Callie rolled her eyes and went downstairs, noticing that Klaus and Kol too was going to the dance, while her father was staying home.

"Wow, don't you two look dashing tonight!" she said teasingly.

"Sweetheart, I look dashing every day," Kol said, smirking smugly. "But I must admit that you look very stunning tonight too."

She giggled and walked out to Marcus, placing a soft kiss on his cheek and taking a look at his fine suit as well.

"Mm… I like," she said teasingly. "But you forgot something, sweetie."

Marcus raised his eyebrow and smirked before pulling out a single red rose. It was tacky, but he'd done the same thing when they went on their very first date.

"Thank you! Now we can go."

Taking Callie's arm in his own, Marcus left with her and they drove to the school dance, finding the gym already filled up with dressed up students.

They were all dancing like they did in the 1920s and looked like they were having a good time – even Elena was enjoying the dance with Stefan, whom she'd pick as her date for tonight.

"Let's dance, my love," Marcus said teasingly, offering his hand in a gentlemanly way. "And then we get so hammered that we can't even walk properly."

Callie giggled and followed him out to the dance floor, dancing wildly with him like in the 1920s and acting like any normal teenage boy or girl at their age would do.

It was only an hour later that Callie's fun was finally interrupted just as she was dancing slowly with Marcus.

Damon walked up to her with determined steps and more or less killed the romance between her and Marcus without saying a word.

"What?" Callie asked grumpily.

"Esther is back." Damon answered curtly.

Her eyes widened in horror and she held on to Marcus hand tighter. "Oh God… where? How? I thought she died. Rebekah told me it happened right before her."

"I have no idea, but I really need you to help me out… enemy or not."

She sighed of the last part he said, but followed him to outside the school and they eventually found Jeremy and Stefan as well.

They all tried leaving the area, but soon found that impossible as Esther had performed a boundary spell around the entire school.

No vampire could leave the circle… or so they thought until Callie looked back at the others and saw that she too had managed to cross the line of salt.

"It must be my necklace," she said, touching it instinctively. "Don't worry. I can handle Esther."

"What? I'm not letting you face her alone!" Marcus protested.

"For once I actually agree with the idiot. It's too dangerous." Damon said, making Marcus rolling his eyes.

"Everything that's happened the past many months has been incredibly dangerous. I'm going and while I'm gone you can try getting Bonnie to undo the spell. I'll stall Esther until then." Callie said.

She left before they could protest again and hurried with Jeremy and Matt to the woods or more exactly – the place where Esther had her heart ripped out by her own son.

Callie was scared and it wasn't only because it was getting very dark outside. She was scared to face her grandmother after what she'd done and knew that she might have to kill her if she wanted her family to be safe.

"You wait out here while I go around the back," Callie said as they arrived at an old and abandoned house. "I think Elena is in there, so it's important you stay out here and let me save her."

They nodded and waited as Callie walked over to the other side of the house, eavesdropping on the conversation between Elena, Esther and the "evil" Alaric.

She heard Esther telling Elena that she wanted to turn Alaric into an Original vampire, so that he could use his power to hunt down all the other Originals and kill them with the missing stake they all thought they'd found and burnt.

"I knew there was something wrong with Rebekah after she returned with the stake," Callie said, stepping inside to them. "You possessed her, didn't you?"

Esther turned her attention to her granddaughter and for a brief moment Callie tried searching for any remorse in her eyes, but she found none.

"How did you get past the line? You should've been trapped as well." Esther said.

"I should, yes, but I also should've been dead now because of you and Finn. How could you do that to me? I never caused you any harm and all I wanted was for us to be a family again."

She sighed and looked briefly at the semi-dead Alaric on the floor. It wouldn't be long before he woke up and Callie knew that he only needed human blood to complete his transition then.

"You are just like my children, Freya. I know of your dark past and have watched you too as you brutally killed thousands of humans – _innocent_ humans. All because of heartbreak."

Callie closed her eyes and thought of all the people she killed, still feeling the same amount of guilt and remorse as always.

"I know that what I did was wrong, but I can't let you turn Alaric into a vampire. You've already made enough mistakes and we don't want to suffer because of your mistakes anymore."

"So you're going to kill your own grandmother?"

Callie wanted to say no, but she felt nothing for that woman anymore. "Yes."

She jumped up Esther so swiftly that Esther didn't have time to fight back and they both tumbled out of the house together, giving Jeremy and Matt a chance to take an aim at her.

But Esther raised her hand and gave Callie a very big aneurism, making her let out a scream and fall to her knees.

The two human boys took an aim on her, though, and was ready to shoot when Esther suddenly raised her other hand and made them aim at each other instead.

Callie tried enduring the immense pain and gritted her teeth as she stood up, but before she could attack Esther someone stabbed the 1000 years old witch in the back and killed her.

The pain and the control over the boys' weapons disappeared and as Esther dropped dead on the ground they saw that Alaric was alive again and back to his old "good" self.

"Oh my God…" she muttered, dropping to her knees again next to Esther's body.

She checked Esther's pulse to make sure that she really was dead and felt nothing. Her grandmother was finally dead and even though she should be happy, then she wasn't.

"I'm so… sorry, Esther. I never wanted this to happen to any of you," she whispered, closing Esther's eyes carefully. "You had every right to do what you did. We _are_ all monsters."

She closed her own eyes and felt tears trickling down her cheeks, dripping down on Esther's cold and lifeless body.

It hurt to lose another member of her family and she hated that no matter how much she tried she wasn't able to protect any of them.

None of them wanted to listen to her and they were all too caught up with what they wanted to see how much it ruined their family.

"I'm sorry, Alaric. I should've known that Rebekah was possessed by Esther and stopped her before this happened to you." she said, still crying.

Alaric sighed heavily and walked back into the house with Elena without saying a word, but Klaus and Kol soon arrived at her side, taking their mother's corpse and bringing her back to the mansion.

Callie stayed outside in the cold until the others showed up and right as Damon showed up she couldn't help but feel guiltier about what happened to his friend, so she left the place and went to the only place where she could be alone.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	10. Vulnerable

**A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews and here's another long chap ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 10:

The cave was eerily quiet as Callie walked hesitantly inside and the deeper inside she went the tighter her throat began feeling and her body began trembling.

"Don't freak out, Callie. It's just a cave," she said quietly to herself, forcing her legs to continue walking. "There's nothing to be scared of."

And still she felt like a small child going through a haunted house in the middle of the night. She wished that someone was with her, but her mother had said that she needed to figure out what was inside it on her own.

When Callie was finally deep inside the cave she took a look around, feeling a chill run down her spine and making her shudder.

The scent of her mother helped calming her down, though, and she tried holding on to the memory of her mother, so she wouldn't focus so much on the darkness or the size of the room she was in.

She began feeling dizzy after a while and decided to sit down, hoping that she would get used to the frightening darkness and size of the room.

"Mom, if you're here somewhere, then please help me figure out where the thing is so I can get out of here again." she said aloud.

She got no reply, so she took a deep breath and took another look around for any clues or hidden passages there might be.

Callie heard a strange sound coming from somewhere in the cave or more precisely – from under the cave, which made her stand up and look down at the ground.

She tried stomping on it and when she did she heard a hollow sound. That could only mean one thing, so she stomped on the ground hard on the ground again, making it break underneath her.

Callie fell down into a darker and colder room along with the dirt and rocks and in this particular room she saw elaborate tunnels that contained dozens of 1000 years old coffins.

She coughed a little as she stood up and brushed the dirt off herself and used her phone as a torch to light up one of the many coffins.

Compared to all the others it looked new, but the coffin was still fragile so she opened it carefully and tried not to panic even though the sight of it was making her nauseous.

"Oh God!"

She quickly closed the coffin again when she saw what was in it. It was a skeleton and from what it was wearing she knew that it was her mother.

Someone had moved her corpse to another location and reburied her in the secret tomb.

Callie tried her best not to start crying again and looked for an exit instead, because there was no way in hell that she could continue looking around without fainting or freaking out.

She couldn't call anyone, though, as there was no signal and the only way out was too high for her to jump up to.

"I should've brought a rope or something…" she muttered, looking up at the hole that led back to the cave.

"_You do not need a rope to get back up._" an unfamiliar voice said.

Callie quickly turned around and frowned when she saw a woman she didn't know, but who reminded her of someone she did know.

Like her mother.

"Who are you?" she asked calmly.

"_My name is Eydís_," she answered, walking closer to Callie. "_I am your grandmother._"

Her eyes widened, but she remained calm and just took a look at the woman, who looked like she'd been in her early thirties when she died.

"So this place is our family tomb?"

Eydís nodded and suddenly disappeared, reappearing next to her daughter's coffin. "_These tunnels were created when the very first people came to this country. The humans were very primitive back then, but they did know about magic._"

She frowned. "They were witches and warlocks?"

"_Yes, but back then they did not know it. They worshipped nature and its many animals, but as their power grew so did the need to become stronger than anything and that is when our ancestors combined humans with wolves – thus creating the perfect coherence with nature._"

Callie groaned and wished that they hadn't done that, because it was because of the werewolves that her youngest uncle died and that Esther decided to create the vampires.

"My mother told me that I'm supposed to find something here – an object – do you know anything about that?" she asked curiously.

Eydís nodded and signed Callie to follow her, which she reluctantly did. She led her to another coffin that was located deeper inside the dark tunnel and wanted her to open it.

"I can't. I apologize, but I… I feel bad enough about being down here and even worse about being among so many coffins." she said, trying her best not to look at it.

"_If you do not fight your fears, then they will take over your mind and you will become vulnerable to anything. You have to be strong, Freya. Just like your mother was when she took care of you on her own._" Eydís said.

Callie sighed and opened the coffin hesitantly, coughing a bit as the dust flew up and trying her best not to throw up at the sight of more human remains.

"Whose grave is it?"

"_Your great-great-grandfather. He was the one who decided that the wolves and humans should be combined._"

"Oh… wonderful." She sighed again and took a look inside it.

Besides bones and dust, she found something else. It was ring with an amber stone – just like on Callie's necklace – but only this stone looked much older and almost glowed in the dark.

"Great! More magical jewelry! And what can this one do?" she asked grumpily.

"_Allow you to use your magic even though you are a vampire. But do not use it too often as it will slow down your healing process and make you almost human. Your great-great-grandfather used it to avoid transforming during full moons, but it almost made him vulnerable to illnesses again._" Eydís explained.

Callie nodded understandingly and picked the ring up, noticing how it began glowing brighter as she made contact with it.

"But how do I…" She looked towards Eydís, but her grandmother had disappeared. "… out. Well, that's just perfect. Now I'm stuck down here forever."

She pouted and began taking a look around, feeling a little braver. "Dad! Someone! Please get me out of here!" she shouted as loud as she could.

The only thing she heard was the sound of her voice echoing throughout the tunnels and then the silence returned.

"This is so not my day…" She slumped down against a wall and just sat on the ground, looking around and trying to figure out how to get out before she lost her composure and started panicking.

"Oh God, oh god, oh god. This is so… horrible. I can't do a damn thing and not even my powers would be able to get me out of here."

But she could send a message to her family.

Callie slipped the ring on her finger and then cut her hand with a rock, using her blood to draw a message on the wall that she had to make appear on one of the walls in her home.

She hadn't used a spell for ages, so she had to improvise a little and just hoped that the message was sent to her family.

In the meantime she decided to sit with her cell phone and slept with one half-open in case someone or something else was down there with her.

But even when she tried falling asleep she couldn't, because she was so scared that something would pop up and try harming her like in a horror movie.

"Mom!" she called out after spending five hours down there. "I really need your help here!"

She suddenly heard a noise coming from the dark end of the tunnel and decided to check it out, but she remembered to arm herself first with a rock even though it might not help her a lot.

"Is someone here?" she yelled.

"_Maybe… maybe not,_" someone said, standing right behind her.

Callie turned around and instinctively took a step back when she saw someone step out from the dark shadows, revealing his face to her.

She didn't recognize him, but there was something about him that made her shudder and the hair on her arms stand up.

He had very light blond hair, blue-greyish eyes and like he was in this early or mid-20s, but he didn't seem to be a ghost like Eydís or alive like a normal human.

Perhaps a vampire?

"Who are you?" she asked tentatively.

"You don't remember me? Of course you don't. You did blackout a lot back then," he said, his voice having an accent she couldn't quite place. "It's me. Simon."

She dropped the stone and stopped breathing right at that moment. It all came back to her now and she remembered how she ripped Simon's heart out after he broke hers.

"I killed you…" she said quietly.

"Yes you did and then a dear witch I knew brought me back to life… in fact, she didn't just bring me back to life, but she also helped me becoming like you."

"No vampire should be able to get in here."

"That's true, but not all vampires have something that belongs to your family."

Simon stepped closer to her and showed his left hand, revealing a ring with an amber stone on it that she guessed used to belong to one of her ancestors, which only made her feel so much more uncomfortable about being alone with him.

"So you're here to kill me or what? To get your revenge?" she asked.

"Revenge? No, not at all. Why would I want to take revenge on my first true love?" he answered, smirking mischievously.

She rolled her eyes. "I had every right to kill you, you know. You _used_ me and let me believe that you actually loved me!"

Simon sighed. "I had to do it, Freya. I come from a family of warlocks and witches. You of all people should know that they dislike vampires immensely."

"So that's why you told people that I was a vampire and nearly had me killed? Pfft! Give me one good reason to why I shouldn't just kill you again right now."

He raised his hand and tried touching her face, but she moved out of his reach. "I can help you stopping that friend of yours who became an Original."

Callie frowned. "What?"

"Oh, you didn't know? A witch came a few hours ago and gave him her blood. I think she was possessed or something, because she began hurting someone who knew her. I don't know why because I didn't exactly stick around to watch. I heard you call for help."

She groaned. "Well, if you're down here too, then how are we going to get out?"

He rolled his eyes and signed for her to follow him, which she reluctantly did, going with him back to where she fell down and finding out that Simon climbed down a rope to her.

"Oh…"

"Exactly. Now are you going to stop hating me and let me help you out?"

Callie eyed him suspiciously. "Why are you even here? I haven't heard from you in-what? Over 700 years?"

"I came to find you, of course. It was very difficult to track you down when you never stayed in one place, but I've been keeping an eye on you for the last couple of months and I want to help you stop your friend from killing you and your family."

"Oh and I'm just supposed to trust you after everything I did to you. Don't forget that I did kill your wife and left your children on their own too."

He groaned. "Freya, I never cared about my wife or my children. They were just something my family expected me to have. Besides, it is over 700 years ago. It's forgotten."

She frowned again and didn't exactly feel more comfortable about being around him. His entire presence and behavior was making her worried and suspicious, but she wanted to get out, so she decided to trust him this one time and let him help her out.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	11. Stop Alaric

**A/N: Helloo, thanks for the lovely reviews, alerts and favs!**

**WARNING: if you haven't watched ep 21 then you probably should since there's a major spoiler in this chap**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 11:

It was bright outside when Callie and Simon walked out of the cave and the feeling of being outside was in the sunlight was so liberating that Callie fell down on all fours, breathing heavy and enjoying her freedom.

"Being buried six feet underground must've been pretty traumatic to you," Simon said, leaning casually up against a tree, watching her intently. "Why don't you just turn your emotions off?"

Callie stopped panting and looked up at him, realization hitting her. Now she knew why Simon was acting so strange – it was because he'd turned his emotions off.

She didn't particularly feel safer around him of that reason, but she reminded herself that she was still older and stronger than him.

"I have tried turning my emotions off. It didn't work." she said, standing up and brushing the dirt off her hands and knees.

He shrugged and began walking again, so she did the same but kept an eye on him as they walked back towards her home.

"Who exactly turned you back then?" she asked curiously.

Simon looked at her and was silent for a moment, but shrugged again and answered casually: "A man. I can't remember his name, but he's dead now."

"Oh… So you're on your own?"

He nodded and suddenly stopped as they were outside her home. "You might not want to let your family know that your ancestors are buried in the tomb, because you never know who might exploit it for personal gain."

Callie nodded and walked up to him. "Simon, I don't know if I can trust you, but thank you for helping me out of the tomb… especially after all the things I did to you."

Simon didn't reply, but just nodded and disappeared, so Callie decided to go inside and nearly walked right into Rebekah as her aunt was on her way out.

"Callie! Oh God, where the hell have you been?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh, um…" Callie awkwardly brushed the dirt off her dress and shrugged. "Around. Is my dad home?"

Rebekah nodded. "He's in the living room, but what happened to you after Esther died?"

"I… it's hard to explain, but I'm fine. Don't worry. I have to get inside and… um, take a shower, but did I miss anything while I was gone?"

Rebekah sighed. "Nothing much, but I'm going to clean up from the party Esther kept me from going to so if you want to join me then I'd really appreciate it."

"I will. I'll meet you at school in half an hour."

She went inside and didn't even get to go into the living room before Elijah appeared before her and hugged her tightly.

"Where have you been? What happened to you? Did Esther hurt you?" he asked.

"I'm ok, Dad! Stop fussing so much over me! Now if you'll excuse me then I really need a shower and then I have to go help Rebekah cleaning up." Callie answered, trying to get upstairs, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him.

"You are not going anywhere before you tell me where you've been. We've been looking all over for you and I thought Esther had killed you."

Callie shook her head. "I can't tell you right now, but I was at the cave and didn't have a signal, so that's why I didn't call you. But I'll tell you everything when I get back, ok?"

Elijah looked displeased, but he let go of her and she went upstairs, taking a long shower and scrubbing herself clean, then dressed and left the mansion again.

She was scared that if she went to bed she'd dream about her dark era or about what she found in the tomb, so she tried keeping herself occupied by going to school.

When she arrived and went inside she suddenly heard a strange noise, though, followed by the sound of her cell phone vibrating in her pocket.

She frowned and took it out, noticing that Rebekah was calling her and she was about to answer it when she sensed someone behind her and quickly turned around.

"Oh my… God…. Ric?" she gasped.

Alaric smirked darkly and grabbed her phone, smashing it with his bare hand, making her realize that he wasn't the old and normal Ric, but the psychotic and evil vampire version of him.

"Welcome back, Callie. Thank you for joining the lesson." he said, swiftly breaking her neck before she could run.

She soon woke up, though, as he stabbed her hand with a pencil, making her scream and flash her teeth at him of rage.

She tried attacking him, but noticed that she was tied to his desk with vervain soaked ropes and her hands and feet had been nailed to it, so she couldn't move at all.

"You know, your grandmother told me about all the horrific things you did in your life and I must say that I'm very tempted to kill you right now and here. You deserve to die!" Alaric said.

"Ric, don't do this! This is not you! It's The Darkness. You have to fight it!" Callie said, trying her best to endure the pain she felt.

"Sorry, but your friend is dead and soon you are too!"

Alaric grabbed the stake Esther had made for him and tried staking her, but as the tip of the stake touched her chest he suddenly flew backwards and was knocked out temporarily.

Callie frowned and looked around, but she was alone in the classroom. She looked down at her necklace and saw that it was glowing brightly, which meant that it must have reacted to The Darkness that had taken over Alaric's mind.

She used this opportunity to try getting free and managed to pull her hands out of the pencils even though it hurt like hell.

After removing the ropes and pencils from her feet she stumbled off the desk and out of the classroom, still feeling weak from the wood and vervain.

Callie ran down the halls of the school as fast as she could, but Alaric soon returned and tackled her to the floor, grabbing her by her throat and holding her down against the floor.

"Don't think for a second that that thing can stop me from killing you!" he snarled, flashing his own fangs now.

He stabbed her in her stomach with the stake and made her let out another scream, pulling the stake out again only to stab her yet again a few inches beside her heart.

"Oops, clumsy me! Perhaps third time is a charm."

He grinned and tried staking her in her heart again, so she quickly struck him in his face as hard as she could, then scrambled to her feet as he flew off her and took a run again.

Callie managed to get around the corner and could've escaped, but she saw that Caroline was tied to a chair in another classroom and hurried inside to help her.

"Callie, look out!" Caroline warned as Callie removed the vervain soaked cloth from her mouth.

But it was impossible for Callie to avoid Alaric as he reached out for her and she was slammed against a desk hard.

"Alaric, don't do it!" someone yelled just before he staked her.

Alaric looked over his shoulder and smirked when he saw Elena enter the classroom. He let go of Callie and threw her down on the floor.

"Consider yourself lucky, Callie. You get to be messenger today," he said. "Find Klaus and tell him that I'm going to keep Caroline and Elena here unless he turns himself in. Oh, and if he doesn't come before the sun goes down, then I'll hunt you down and take you out first."

Callie gulped and looked at Elena and Caroline, but Elena nodded to let her know that it was okay and she reluctantly left, running faster than she'd ever run before to Klaus.

She eventually found him outside Elena's home, about to throw a burning newspaper and a container filled with something flammable into the house.

"Klaus, no!" she yelled, quickly grabbing the newspaper and throwing it away.

Klaus frowned and saw what had happened to her, which immediately caught his attention as well as Stefan's and Damon's.

"Callie? What happened?" Stefan asked worriedly.

"It's Alaric," she panted. "He's gone crazy and is keeping Elena and Caroline trapped. He said that if you didn't come then he would keep them and later kill me."

Klaus growled and threw the container away. "You ok?"

She nodded even though she was still hurting, because right now she wanted them to focus on how they could stop Alaric.

"We have to hurry. I think he's going to kill Caroline soon."

That caught Klaus' attention and she knew it was because he had feelings for Caroline, so she hoped that he'd stop thinking about helping only their family and start thinking about helping others too.

"Ok, I will help, but you should stay here. Your father would kill me if I let you get hurt again." he said quietly.

She nodded and after discussing what to do with the Salvatore brothers she went with Damon and Bonnie back to the boarding house where she could get some blood.

She was still weak, sore and tired from the night she'd spend in the tomb, so she tried getting as much rest as possible without falling asleep.

"Where were you the night Alaric turned?" Damon asked. "You look like hell."

"Maybe because I was trapped in a tomb all night and then I was tortured by a psycho vampire hunter!" Callie said sarcastically, rubbing her tired eyes.

She sighed when she realized that she'd been too harsh towards him and shook her head. "Sorry. I'm just so… exhausted and confused and…"

She sighed again as she felt tears brimming in her eyes. Damon sighed too and sat down next to her on his couch, stroking her cheek gently.

"Are you ok, Callie?" he asked worriedly.

She shook her head and looked into his eyes, missing the way it felt whenever he kissed her and the feeling of his arms around her.

"I miss you, Damon." she blurted without knowing why.

She instantly blushed and looked away when she said it and felt guilty, because she still was with Marcus and right now Marcus was probably worried about her.

"I miss you too, Callie," Damon said softly, making her look into his eyes again. "I'm sorry I let you go. I didn't realize that you wanted me to fight for you before that night in Denver when you looked at me."

"I never stopped loving you, Damon. How could you think that after everything we've been through?"

He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers, apologizing quietly and placing a soft kiss on her lips that she gladly returned.

She knew that it was wrong, but right now she needed him more than ever and she'd realized something too during her trip to Denver.

No matter how miserable and scared she felt she would always want him to be by her side.

"_That's what I thought,_" a familiar voice suddenly said, making Callie pull away from Damon. "It's ok, Callie. I had my suspicions and knew that you weren't over him yet."

"Marcus, I…" She sighed and walked up to him, pulling him into the kitchen where they could talk alone. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything, but–"

"No, no, you don't have to apologize. It hurts, yes, but… I knew that there was a risk of you still being in love with him. The kind of love you feel for him never dies that easily."

Callie frowned. "So you're not mad at me?"

He shook his head and embraced her. "I could never be mad at you, Callie. You're my best friend. I'll always be there for you no matter what."

She felt tears brimming in her eyes again and couldn't keep them in this time. She couldn't feel more thankful of meeting him than she was now and hoped that they'd never stop being friends.

"Go be with Damon. I'll go help the others stop Alaric." Marcus said.

Callie smiled and went back into the living room to Damon, hugging him tightly and enjoying the feeling of his arms around her.

"If anything happens to me when I go to stop Ric, then…"

"Don't Damon. You'll make it. I'm sure." Callie interrupted.

Damon sighed. "Yes, but if I don't then promise me that you will look after Elena. She… helped me realize that I love you more than I've let you know and that kiss we had in Denver just proved that."

Callie didn't say anything, but just leaned up and kissed him softly for a moment, hoping more than ever that nothing would happen to him.

"I love you."

He smiled and leaned down to her ear, whispering: "I love you too."

Callie watched as he left with Bonnie and stayed in the boarding house, resting until they would return – hopefully with good news.

But as the minutes passed by slowly she grew more and more worried and when an hour had gone since Damon left, she decided to go back home and see if her father was at home.

However, as she went inside she heard the sound of Klaus to Elena, whom she saw was tied up to a chair and being drained of blood.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" she snarled, heading towards Elena to help her.

Klaus quickly stopped her and held a firm grip on her shoulders, so she couldn't go to Elena and help her.

"I'm putting an end to Alaric's life and making sure that I have enough blood to create more hybrids," he said. "Alaric's life is bound to Elena's, so if she goes…"

"Then he goes too… but what happened to the plan about immobilizing him?"

"It failed, but don't you dare helping her now, Callie. She has to die and if you help her escape then I will–"

"You'll what? Kill me? Klaus, do you know how many times I've helped and defended you despite everything you've done? You're my uncle and I care about you, but you obviously don't care about your family anymore since you _have_ to have a backup one!"

She turned around and tried helping Elena free, but Klaus grabbed her and snapped her neck, knocking her out temporarily.

This time she was out for a little longer time and first woke up as Stefan placed his hand on Klaus' chest, allowing Bonnie to stop his heart like she was supposed to do to Alaric.

For once she didn't try stopping them, but instead she watched him as his heart slowly began to stop.

She did cry for him and wanted to stop this from happening and yet she knew that this was the right thing to do, so she just sat and cried, hoping that she would be able to wake him up someday and that he would then know how to be truly selfless...

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	12. Trust Me

**A/N: Helloo, thanks for the amazing reviews! Oh, did you see the new TVD ep? *le cries* God that was soo sad!**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 12:

It was the sound of a cell phone ringing that woke Callie up early in the morning.

She opened her eyes and yawned quietly, looking up sleepily at her phone as it continued to ring on her nightstand.

The fresh memory of her uncle being immobilized came to her mind and she sighed heavily, wishing that she'd asked her father to make her forget about it.

Not a day had gone and she already missed him just like she missed Finn and her grandmother. They'd all done her wrong and still she loved them, because they were a part of her family.

Now she only had her father, Rebekah and Kol left and she dreaded that they too would die if either one of them wanted revenge for what happened to Klaus.

Callie shook her worries out of her head and grabbed her cell phone, smiling weakly when she saw that it was Damon who was calling her.

"_Did I wake you up?_" he asked in a cheerful tone.

She laughed. "Yeah, you did. But it's ok, I can't sleep anyway. Where are you?" she answered.

After Klaus had been immobilized I had helped Elena home, so I didn't know what happened to Damon or the others after that.

"_I'm on the road. We're going to throw Klaus in the Atlantic Ocean so no one can get to him._"

Callie's eyes widened. "Say-what? Why are you first telling me that now?"

He sighed. "_Because I knew you'd be pissed off at me, that's why._"

She rolled her eyes and sat up, rubbing her tired eyes a bit. "I'm not pissed off at you for taking him, but I am pissed off about you not telling me anything…" She sighed. "Just forget it. When will you be back?"

"_In a couple of days, I think. How's Elena?_"

"When I left her home she was still a bit lightheaded, but she should be sleeping now. I'll go check up on her later."

"_Good. Thanks. And what about you? You ok?_"

She didn't feel ok and wanted to be with him after what happened, but she didn't want to worry him when he was out of town anyway.

"I'm good – just a little tired."

"_I'll let you sleep then. Night, Callie… I love you._"

She smiled as she was reminded of why she chose him over Marcus and why she would always choose him no matter what.

He meant everything to her and she would die for him.

"I love you too, Damon. Be careful."

Callie hung up and looked at the clock. It was almost 5:00 AM, so it wouldn't be long before she had to get up anyway.

She decided to take a shower, dressed and left the house quietly, going to Elena's home a little earlier than planned and checking up on her.

It was a good thing that she did it, because she soon discovered that Elena was at the hospital and from what Jeremy told her, then she knew that Elena had passed out because of the lack of blood.

So she went to the hospital and stayed by Elena's side as she slept, wondering what the doppelgänger was thinking about.

"Thank you for coming," Jeremy said, looking worried. "I'm sorry about Klaus… even if he is the bad guy and I'm glad he was stopped."

Callie looked up at him and sighed. "It's ok. He deserves this and needs to understand that what he did was wrong." she said.

He nodded and leaned against a wall. "There's something I need to tell you. When Damon and Elena made me talk to Rose she told me to tell you something too. She said that someone named Simon was coming for you and that you should be careful."

_I knew it! Simon can't be trusted,_ she thought. _But what is he even up to? And how do I stop him before it's too late?_

"Thanks, Jeremy."

He left the room for a moment and as she was alone with Elena she couldn't resist the temptation to tap into her dream to see what she was dreaming about.

She kept herself in the background as she saw Elena talk with her mom and aunt, looking so happy and carefree.

Callie truly envied the life Elena had before and wished that she'd been raised by both of her parents and not kept a secret because she was a bastard and a mistake in Mikael's eyes.

She felt tears brimming in her eyes and decided to leave the room, trying to hold back the tears as she stood outside the room and thought about Damon instead.

But as she stood outside the door she overheard Alaric talking with Meredith, so when Jeremy returned she quickly told him to help her get Elena out of the room and into her car.

They drove Elena back to her home and she was placed on the couch where she could rest, while Callie called Caroline so they could figure out a way to stop Alaric without killing Elena.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Elena said, awake but still looking tired. "Are you ok, Callie? I'm sorry that we haven't been able to talk together since… well, you know."

Since her entire family appeared in her life and everything went out of control.

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you right now. You've been through a lot and deserve to rest."

"So do you. I can't imagine how rough it must've been for you to be on your own for almost 1000 years. I know you had Marcus, but… still."

Callie sighed heavily and sat down next to Elena. "It has been really tough and especially after I met my entire family. I… I wish that I could undo certain things I did."

"Me too. As for Damon and I, then… I really am sorry about it. Have you two had time to talk?"

She nodded. "A little, but we still have a lot to talk about and right now I've got a lot of other problems to deal with, so it might go a while before we can talk."

Elena frowned and was about to ask when they heard someone come home. It was Stefan and to Callie's disappointment he was alone, which meant that Damon was still on the road.

"Damon's not coming too?" she asked worriedly.

"No, he… he decided to finish the job alone. Don't worry, he'll be back." Stefan answered.

Callie nodded and heard that someone was nearing the house, so she went out to the front door and opened it just before her father could knock on the door.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" she asked, frowning.

"I… have something I wish to discuss with your friends. It's about Klaus." he answered.

She stepped aside and let him in, following him into the kitchen where the others were. They too were shocked to see Elijah, but they all knew that he wasn't there to harm anyone.

He told them about a plan he had that could help them stop Alaric and make him leave the vampires in this town alone but instead he would be chasing Elijah, Rebekah and Kol.

"You can't be serious, Dad! You're really going to put yourself in danger and let him chase you until Elena dies?" Callie asked.

"If I don't do it he will kill you and your friends, Callie. I promise I will keep Rebekah safe and make sure she doesn't die, but right now my main concern is to keep you alive." Elijah answered.

"I'm sorry but I can't just let you do that. If you're all going, then I am too."

"_No you are not and we are not letting Klaus wake up,_" Damon said through the phone. "_We'll find another way to stop Alaric and without anyone having to put themselves in danger._"

"I have to agree with Damon on some parts," Elijah said. "I refuse to let you go with us and will compel you to stay if I have to. But, Elena, this is your choice and if you decide to return my brother's body to us, then I promise that we will keep our part of the deal."

"Dad, I have lost enough of my family this month! Don't leave me here and put your life at risk just to keep everyone safe!"

Elijah shook his head and was about to say something, but Callie stormed out of the house, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She couldn't handle this again. The pain of losing another person from her family and particularly her father would be too much for her to bear.

Callie wanted to go to Alaric alone and take him down, but she knew that acting on her impulses would get herself killed, so she just sat down on the porch and cried.

Elijah soon joined her out on the porch and sat down beside her, pulling her into his embrace and wiping her tears away.

"I'll be fine. We'll all be fine, Freya…" he said quietly.

"You can't promise that. What am I supposed to do if you die? And what if Rebekah dies? I won't know before I die too." Callie said.

He sighed heavily. "Trust me, Freya. I have kept my family safe for 1000 years. I can do it for another century – even against a hunter like Alaric."

"But I need you here… especially now that Simon has returned."

Elijah frowned. "Simon? The boy who broke your heart?"

She nodded. "He's a vampire and he has one of my ancestor's rings that protect him from dying. I think he's up to something bad."

"_Elijah, did they agree to let him go?_" Rebekah asked, stopping Elijah from saying something to Callie.

"They did, yes. You should go to Damon before Alaric finds out where Klaus is."

"I'll go with you," Callie said, earning a worried look from her father. "I… want to say goodbye to all of you before you leave."

He understood that she trusted him and decided to let her go with Rebekah after hugging her tightly. She then went to the storage building outside town with Rebekah and tried not to think about the fact that she would soon be alone again.

"We'll protect each other, I promise," Rebekah said. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Yes, I do. But just call me at least once a week so I know that you're ok."

Rebekah nodded and parked outside the storage building once they arrived. "You'll never be alone as long as you have your friends and Damon, Freya. Just remember that."

She hugged Callie tightly and they went inside to find the room Klaus' body was in, but as they arrived they heard only silence.

"I have a very bad feeling about this…" Callie muttered.

"Don't worry. Just stay close to me and nothing bad will happen," Rebekah said. "Damon! Where the hell are you?"

They heard no reply and continued walking around searching for him until Damon suddenly appeared from behind and pulled them into the room where Klaus was.

"Shh… Alaric is here." he whispered very quietly.

They nodded understandingly and helped him push the coffin out of the room and back to the garage, almost at the car when Alaric suddenly appeared and threw them all aside, banging Rebekah's head against the car and hitting Callie right in the face.

Alaric opened the coffin and was about to stake Klaus, so Callie jumped on him and tried to wrestle the stake out of his hand.

He growled and stabbed her just next to her heart with the stake, pulling it out quickly once she hit the floor and then going to stake Klaus.

Callie saw her mother appear just before she lost consciousness and something else that seemed to hover around Alaric – something dark and malevolent.

It was The Darkness within him.

When Callie woke up again Damon was standing before her, looking worried and she could smell the scent of burnt flesh in the air.

She quickly stood up and the sight of Klaus burning up completely broke her heart. She broke down crying in Damon's arms, but it wasn't only because Klaus was dead.

Damon and everyone else she cared about would die now.

"We have to stop him, Damon… I can't let him get to my dad!" she said.

"Go," Damon said, taking her by surprise. "It's ok, Callie. I trust you. Just go. I'll be right behind you."

She thanked him and left the building as fast as she possibly could.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	13. The Transition

**A/N: Hii, sorry about the late update, but for some reason I completely forgot to upload this chap, so I'll give you two chapters as an apology! :)**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 13:

"Dad!" Callie yelled as she arrived at the woods, panting from running all the way from the storage lockers to Mystic Falls. "Rebekah!"

It was eerily quiet outside, not even the animals that lived in the woods made a noise, which only added to her fear of having lost another family member on the same night.

"Dad! Where are you?" she yelled again, feeling fear creeping under her skin.

She suddenly heard someone step on a twig and quickly spun around, sighing of relief as she saw her father and aunt and rushing to them as fast as she could.

"Thank God you're alive!" she said breathlessly, holding on to her father tightly. "Nik is dead! Alaric killed him!"

"I know," Elijah said, sighing wearily. "I'm so sorry, Callie. I know you tried to save him."

Callie sobbed into his jacket and didn't try holding back on the tears that streamed down her cheeks, the searing pain of losing her uncle burning brightly inside her.

"We have to stop him… There has to be a way to stop him. Maybe if I–"

"No, Callie. You are not going anywhere near Alaric. I want you to stay with me here." Elijah said.

"But–"

"Please, Freya. We do not want to lose you too." Rebekah said pleadingly.

Callie groaned lowly but nodded and texted Damon while they waited in the woods, telling him where she was and wanting to meet him at the boarding house later.

He didn't reply, but she figured that he was just busy and waited for a bit longer with her father while Rebekah went to take care of something she wouldn't say what was.

"If there is no way to kill Alaric then Rebekah and I will leave," Elijah said, pausing for a moment and watching her expression change. "And you will stay. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Dad… I don't like your plan, but I understand that I can't always be with you. I have to be there for Damon and the others." Callie said, sighing wearily.

Elijah nodded and pulled her into his embrace again, caressing her arm in a fatherly manner that helped her calm down.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you in case you do leave town…" She pulled the ring out of her pocket and showed it to him. "When I went to my family's cave I found a hidden tomb under it and… and in that tomb I met the spirit of one of my ancestors. She told me that when I use this I can use my powers, but it also slows down my healing process and makes me almost human."

Elijah took the ring and looked at it intently, thinking hard about something that seemed to worry him – perhaps he was worried about the ring's power?

"I could try using it on Alaric if you want me to. I could–"

Her father's phone suddenly began vibrating and he quickly took it out of his pocket, his brows furrowing as he saw that Kol was calling him.

"We'll talk about this later. Could you please go find Rebekah for me?" he asked.

She nodded, placed a soft kiss on his cheek and left to find her aunt, whom she knew couldn't have gone that far.

But as she searched for her aunt she suddenly heard someone screaming and the sound of a car crashing into a river.

She ran as fast as she could towards the source of the noise and saw Stefan jumping into the water, trying to save Elena and Matt, because they were drowning.

Nearby the bridge she saw Rebekah and it didn't take long for her to figure out that Rebekah was behind the crash.

She was hoping to kill Alaric by killing Elena and although Callie understood why Rebekah would do it, then she couldn't let Elena die.

So she jumped into the freezing cold water as well and tried helping Stefan getting her friends out of the car before they died.

Stefan managed to get Matt out first as Elena had told him to and once he was free Callie took over, swimming back up to the shore so Stefan could rescue Elena.

She sincerely hoped that he would get to her in time while she fought to wake Matt up from his slumber, but once Stefan brought Elena to the surface neither of them were able to hear Elena's heart beating anymore.

Callie rushed to Elena and searched for her ring, hoping that her powers might be able to help her, but she'd forgotten to take it back from her father when she left him.

Elena was going to die and there was nothing she or Stefan could do about it.

"Oh God… not her…" she muttered, feeling new tears streaming down her cheeks.

She turned her gaze up to Rebekah and ran towards her aunt, slamming her hard against a tree out of rage and sorrow of what she'd done.

"Why would you kill her? She didn't deserve to die!" she snarled.

Rebekah pushed Callie away from her and embraced her sobbing niece even though she knew that Callie hated her right now.

"You know I had to do it. I had to protect all of you." she said.

Callie pulled away and shook her head, turning her gaze back to Stefan and seeing that he was crying as well.

There was only one thing they could do now.

She went back to him and helped him get Elena's body and Matt to the hospital. Once they arrived she was announced dead by Dr. Fell, but the young doctor seemed more upset about something else than Elena's death, which made Callie suspicious.

What did the doctor know that they didn't?

She decided to follow Dr. Fell into her office and locked the door behind them, so Meredith couldn't get out until she'd gotten her answers.

"Are you withholding any information from us?" she asked suspiciously.

Meredith looked up at her and Callie could hear the doctor's heart beat faster.

Oh, she was definitely keeping secrets from them.

"Ok, I… may have given Elena some vampire blood when she came to the hospital last night." she admitted.

Callie's eyes widened. "What? You-but-oh god!"

She sped out of the office and was on her way to the morgue when she ran into Damon, who'd just arrived, his clothes covered in blood from himself and from Alaric.

"Is it true? Is she dead?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, but she won't stay dead for long. She had some vampire blood in her before she died, Damon. You know what that means." Callie answered.

His eyes widened as well of the news, but he didn't say anything and just embraced her tightly, breathing in the scent of her skin and keeping her close to him.

"That's the last time I let you go anywhere alone, understand?" he whispered, kissing her wet and cold cheek, then handed her his leather jacket to keep her warm.

"Really, Damon? You're going to be all protective now? Alaric is dead and…" _And Simon is still alive and hiding dark secrets of his own,_ she thought.

"Then hate me. I don't care. I just want to see you alive and well." He smirked a bit and leaned down, pressing his lips softly against hers and sending a shiver of pleasure through her cold body.

"_Callie!_" a familiar voice said, catching both of their attention.

Marcus sped up to them and hugged her tightly, ignoring the scowl he earned from Damon by doing so, because right now he was more focused on making sure that his friend was safe and sound.

"I heard what happened to Elena. I'm so sorry, Callie. I know she was your friend." he said, finally pulling away from her.

"Don't be. Elena… she'll be fine, but she's gonna need all the help she can get now that she'll become a vampire like us," Callie said, then turned to Damon. "Where's Jeremy? We have to tell him where she is."

"I'll bring him here. Just relax, ok? You've been through enough tonight."

She smiled weakly and hugged him tightly again even though she knew that it annoyed Damon immensely before she watched him leave.

"We should get some coffee. We're going to have to be here all night." Damon said.

Callie scrunched up her nose. "Coffee?" she repeated.

He chuckled and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Fine, I'll get you some tea, you wuss."

She rolled her eyes and watched him leave, waiting until he was out of sight before she went to the morgue to check up on Elena.

The dead doppelgänger lay on the table with her eyes still closed and was it not because Callie already knew that she was dead it would look like she was merely sleeping.

Callie hesitantly touched Elena's cold arm and as she did the doppelgänger's eyes suddenly opened wide, making her jolt a little of Elena's sudden movement.

"Elena, lie still! You are still weak and–"

"Callie? Is that you? Wha-what happened?" Elena asked frantically, looking up at her.

"You died with vampire blood in your system, but don't worry. I'll help you get through the transition if you want me to." she answered.

Elena was silent at first but the more she thought about what had happened to her, the more she understood and when the realization of what she had become finally struck her, she started sobbing but Callie didn't blame her for being upset.

It had been very difficult for herself to go through the transition and especially on her own.

"_Elena? Elena!_" Stefan called, running towards them, his voice coated with panic.

Callie figured that Damon had told him about Elena's condition and decided to leave the pair alone together, while she returned to Damon.

They deserved to be alone after everything they'd been through and Elena also needed someone very close to her right now.

Walking back upstairs to the waiting room she found Damon sitting on a couch with a cup of coffee in his hand and tea on a table beside him, waiting for her to return.

"Has she woken up yet?" he asked worriedly.

"She has and she reacted like I expected she would," Callie answered, sighing heavily as she sat down on his lap. "I can't believe that Klaus is dead… I hated him, but… you know."

Damon nodded and handed her the tea. "I have to be honest. I'm not gonna miss him and the same goes for Tyler. The world doesn't need hybrids."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't bother saying anything because her mind was somewhere else. She sipped her tea a bit and was lost in her thoughts, until her father walked into the waiting room – with her ring in his hand.

"Elena is dead?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes… kindda. She just woke up, but she'll be a vampire now." Callie answered, avoiding his worried gaze.

"Are you fine, Callie?"

She nodded absentmindedly, not quite listening to anything that was going on around her. Damon seemed to notice that something was bothering her and placed both of their cups on the table, then picked her up into his arms.

"I'll take you home. You need to rest," he said. "Oh and don't even try arguing with me."

Callie kept her mouth shut even though she wanted to complain, because she felt like she was supposed to stay until she was sure that Elena was safe.

But as Damon carried Callie out to his car and drove her home she began feeling sleepy and was unable to stay awake.

She was sleeping heavily once they arrived at the Mikaelson mansion and placed her in her bed, taking off her wet clothes and putting on her nightgown instead.

He removed his own blood smeared clothes and joined her in the bed, holding her close to him and letting her sleep in his embrace.

It felt like ages ago since they'd last slept together like this and after all the things that _they_ had been through, he felt content with having her in his embrace tonight.

"I love you, Callie... don't ever leave me again." he whispered quietly, placing a soft kiss on her forehead before he too went to bed.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	14. Carefree

**A/N: Helloo, sorry about the very late update. My life has been pretty hectic in these two past weeks, but I'll make it up to you by giving you a long chapter ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 14:

"_God damn it!_"

Callie felt herself being ripped out of her dream as she heard Damon cursing and sat up in her bed, her hair all fluffy and tangled from tossing and turning so much in her sleep.

"Huh?" she said, looking around sleepily and yawning quietly.

Her gaze soon fell on Damon as he wiped some tea he'd spilled off the floor with one of his dirty shirts, while his semi-scolded hand healed up.

She realized that he had spilled some hot tea on himself and couldn't resist the urge to giggle, which earned her an eye roll from Damon.

"It's not funny," he said, crawling onto the bed. "I actually burnt my hand, you know."

"So? You're a vampire. Man up!" she said teasingly and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips softly against his. "Mm… you taste of chocolate. Did you eat some chocolate and _didn't_ save something for me?"

Damon chuckled and pulled her onto his lap, kissing her passionately and pushing her back down against the mattress, making her cheeks turn rosy.

It'd been such a long time ago since they'd last been this close, so everything felt so new and strange again, but she _had_ missed feeling like that and wouldn't trade it for anything.

"Please say that what I'm feeling is you being very happy to see me!" Callie said, giggling as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He didn't answer, but winked and leaned down to her lips, deepening the kiss as his hand roamed over her body, untying the laces at the front of her nightgown.

"_Ohh, yeah! Baby, please! Touch me right there!_" a familiar voice suddenly said.

Callie instantly pushed Damon away and her cheeks quickly turned red as a tomato when she heard the sound of her youngest uncle mocking them.

Kol burst out laughing, so she grabbed one of her shoes that lay on the floor and threw it at him, nearly hitting him in the head.

"GET THE FUCK OUT KOL!" she snarled.

He kept laughing and wouldn't leave, but someone else threw a ballerina flat in his head and the shoe came from someone who stood in the hallway.

"_Leave her alone, you bloody moron!_" Rebekah shouted from her own bedroom.

Kol rolled his eyes. "Ok, I'll let you two lovebirds go all hanky panky, but just know that daddy dearest wants to talk with you when you're ready…" He was about to leave, but stopped dead in his tracks and smirked as he looked at them again. "Oh and don't forget to use protection!"

Callie hid her face in embarrassment while Damon threw another shoe at him. He managed to avoid the second one too, but at least he finally left.

"I seriously hate your uncles…" Damon muttered, shaking his head.

"Me too. But I blame you for what just happened. You should've known better than to bring me here and hope to get laid in a mansion full of Originals." Callie said teasingly.

Damon grinned and grabbed two plates with breakfast that she hadn't even noticed before, but now that she knew that Damon had made breakfast for her she completely forgot her rage towards Kol.

"Ok, we might be able to do it one time, but you better be quiet."

"Me be quiet? You sure it isn't you who should be quiet?"

They both suddenly heard a glass shattering as it fell to the kitchen floor and Kol once again burst out laughing, because he knew what had happened and why it happened.

"_See! I warned you about eavesdropping on their conversation and now look what happened!_" he said.

"_Shut up brother!_" Elijah growled, making Callie blush even more.

"I seriously have no privacy at all in this home!" she grumbled.

"Of course not. You're a Mikaelson and last I checked you guys don't like being kept secrets from." Damon said, calmly eating his toast.

She shrugged. "Fair enough. But–"

Damon jammed a toast in her mouth to cut her off, earning him a scowl from Callie that he casually ignored.

"How is Elena doing?" she asked once she'd eaten the toast.

"She's… confused. Stefan is helping her as much as he can and the others too, but you know how it is to be a newborn vampire." Damon answered.

Callie nodded and took a sip of her tea. "That reminds me… I forgot to tell you something important yesterday. When I went to take a look inside my mother's side of the family's tomb, I ran into someone I thought was dead… or at least permanently dead."

Damon raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to her. "Who exactly? Not Finn or Esther?"

She shook her head. "Someone much worse. I met Simon."

He fell silent and leaned back again, his brows furrowing because he was feeling worried about Simon's sudden return just like Callie was.

"Didn't you rip his heart out or something?" he asked.

"I did, yes, but before Simon became a vampire he was a warlock. He had help like Esther and then became a vampire, but I have no idea who turned him. I just know that whoever turned him is dead, he's got a powerful ring that belongs to one of my ancestors and Rose warned me about him from the dead, which all in all is not a good thing." Callie answered, starting to feel frantic about it.

Damon sighed and placed his hands on her cheeks, making her look into his blue eyes. "Hey, calm down. He won't be a problem to us. We've got three Originals and a hell of lot vampires on our side. What's can he possibly do to us that we can't stop?"

She smiled brightly, but not because she found his attempt to calm her down amusing; it was because she'd missed his support and the warm sensation she felt inside her whenever he touched her or looked deep into her eyes.

"Thank you, Damon."

He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers softly, then suddenly jumped off the bed and started undressing.

Callie frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to try out your bathtub, of course. You've tried mine out, so it's only fair that I try out yours. Feel free to join me if you want." He winked and walked into her private bathroom.

She giggled and took a swig of her tea and another bite of her toast before she too undressed and joined him in the bathroom, feeling eager to just relax and spend some time with him.

Although she shouldn't be this happy when she'd just lost another uncle, then the house was much calmer without Klaus and Damon could somewhat be with her without them having to worry about what Klaus was up to.

"Mm… I've really missed these…" Damon said, squeezing her breasts teasingly from behind.

Callie blushed brightly and moved his hands down to her stomach, feeling less embarrassed about showering with him again.

"Behave, Salvatore. I'm still way older than you and can hurt you in so many ways!" she said, smirking smugly.

Damon chuckled and turned her around, embracing her and pressing her body deliberately close to his, but this time she didn't bother stopping him.

"God, you're such a perv. Were you always like this?"

"You mean 'was I this pervy when I was human?' Well… I did have a lot of dirty thoughts, but which guy hasn't?"

Callie laughed and snuggled close to him, wanting to stay with him like this forever. It had been a long time ago since she'd last felt so carefree.

"Can we please stay here all day? I don't wanna leave my bedroom or the shower."

"Me neither. But I don't want to see your skin turn wrinkly so you're coming with me to the Grill later, and I'm not taking no for an answer."

Callie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately as a reply and the kiss triggered something inside her that made her press him against the wall and deepen the kiss.

The desire to truly be with him was intensified by his touch as he responded to her impulsive act and pulled her close to him, letting his hands roam over her bare body greedily.

For once she didn't care if someone did overhear them, because after everything they'd been through together she felt like they deserved to have fun and be like a normal couple.

Callie did have a hard time controlling herself and they ended up cracking one of the glass walls of her shower cabin as Damon too struggled to hold back on the roughness of his actions.

But intense passion, reckless behavior and release of their inhibitions was what they needed and Callie was starting to feel more and more like she wanted to feel.

Namely human.

"I think it's the first time someone ever got laid in this mansion," Damon said, chuckling as they lay in her bed, still soaked but feeling too content to dry themselves up now.

"Hmm, you may actually be right about that since you did _bang_ my aunt in your home." Callie said, emphasizing the part about her aunt deliberately.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I told you I was sorry. Besides, we were both mourning and–"

"And you're still an ass and will get punished by Karma someday… like right now."

He frowned. "How is 'Karma' going to punish me now?"

She pushed him off the bed faster than he could react and actually shocked him for a moment, but he quickly jumped back onto the bed and started tickling her.

"Wait! Stop, Damon! Oh God-no!" she laughed, trying to stop him.

She suddenly realized that she had forgotten something else important and pushed him off the bed again, quickly drying herself up and getting dressed.

"Why are you suddenly in such a hurry?" Damon grumbled, drying himself too.

"My dad wanted to talk with me, remember? I'm sure it's about something important since he never just asks me about how I'm doing or if I get good grades in school like a normal father would."

"Oh yes. The joy of having an Original as your father (!)" Damon laughed. "I wouldn't want to get my father back. He was an ass."

"Damon! Don't speak badly of the dead… Now they can actually reply through Jeremy."

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist as she was heading out of her bedroom, pulling her back into his embrace and pressing his lips softly against hers.

"I'm sorry about the damage I did to your shower cabin, but we should definitely go showering together some other time." he said seductively.

Callie was tempted to stay and did have a hard time pulling herself out of his embrace, until her father became too impatient and went up to her bedroom.

She was grateful that he had the courtesy to knock after eavesdropping on their conversation and nearly having a heart attack.

"I'm sorry; I'm on my way now! I… got a little distracted," she said, walking out to him in the hallway. "Where do you wanna talk?"

"Hmm… let's go out on the balcony," he said, his gaze suddenly turning to Damon. "I suggest you leave through the other entrance as Kol is currently waiting for you in the hall with a baseball bat."

Damon gulped at the memory of him being struck by a baseball bat, but as Callie and Elijah moved out to the balcony she saw Kol on his way out of the mansion.

"You scared him on purpose, didn't you?" she asked, shaking her head of him.

Elijah smiled weakly and shrugged, but she was still in a blissful state and didn't want to start arguing with him.

"How are you feeling about Klaus' death?" he asked.

"You just had to bring that up…" she muttered and sighed, resting her arms against the railing as she looked out towards the woods. "I do miss him, but all these worries I've been carrying around ever since he showed up… they're gone now. I feel free."

Elijah nodded and looked out towards the woods too. "Callie, I don't want to alarm you, but there is something you need to know about Klaus… He was the one who turned Mary Porter and created Damon's and Stefan's bloodline – not Kol, Rebekah or myself. Him. And since Tyler supposedly died last night, then so should Damon and Stefan."

Callie felt her throat tighten a bit. "What are you saying? That Nik might still be alive somehow?"

He sighed but nodded. "I have a suspicion about it, but please keep this information to yourself until we are certain. Yes?"

She nodded and thanked him for letting her now this, because even though she did feel some of the worries return then she refused to let them take over her mind and life again.

"And Simon? What do we do about him?" she asked worriedly.

"Find out what he is up to, but be careful. Warlocks who turn into vampires rarely do it because they just want to have a long life," Elijah answered calmly. "You would know, yes?"

She nodded, but she'd only become a vampire to find her father – not to secretly take over the world or because she wanted to harm anyone in particular.

"I should go find him now. I don't want to be late if he is up to something bad," she said. "But about the ring I showed you…"

Elijah nodded and held the ring up in front of her, but when she tried to take it he moved his hand out of her reach.

"Before I give this back to you I want you to promise me that you will _only_ use it if it's absolutely necessary. You don't know if the magic this ring holds is good or bad or if you can control it."

"I promise I won't use it unless it's absolutely necessary. I know the risk of using magic again and what the consequences are of it."

He hesitated as he handed her the ring back – maybe because he dreaded that she would underestimate the power of the ring and get herself in trouble.

"Wish me good luck, Dad." she said, sighing weakly.

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and wished her good luck, and as she too left the mansion she decided to go to one of the places she figured Simon would be at.

Her family's tomb.

And her suspicions were proved right when she arrived at the entrance of the cave, seeing Simon leaning against a wall with a cigarette in his mouth, looking completely calm and yet so grave.

"You've been waiting for me?" she asked, approaching him calmly.

"You could say that, yes," he answered and flashed one of those smiles that had once caught her attention. "Mind going on a little walk with me?"

She shook her head and followed him as he walked out towards the woods.

All sorts of thoughts were going through her head at that moment, but her main issue with Simon was more about how and why he'd decided to show up in her life now.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	15. Possessed

**A/N: Heeeyyy, here's a short but important chap ;) I'll give you another update on Wednesday when my summer vacation begins - hopefully I'll remember to do it despite me having the memory of a gold fish xD**

**Thanks for the wonderful reviews, favs and alerts! ;D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 15:

"I bet you are wondering why I haven't tried hurting you yet," Simon said as they walked together through the woods. "You did rip my wife apart, ripped out my heart and left my children to defend themselves in such a cruel world."

Callie rolled her eyes and wished that he hadn't reminded her of that. She was far from proud of how she'd acted back then and wished that it had never happened.

"Why is it that you haven't tried hurting me yet?" Callie asked, making sure to keep a distance between them.

Simon took out a pack of cigarettes and lit a cigarette, taking a drag and exhaling the smoke before he turned his gaze back to her.

There was something about his entire behavior that made Callie worry. It was as if he wasn't himself anymore but someone else… someone very bad.

"I need your help with something very important that I cannot take care of on my own," he answered. "It involves us having to use an immense amount of magic and strength."

Callie raised an eyebrow, eying him suspiciously. "A spell? For what?"

He flashed a dark smirk that made a cold shiver run down her spine. "I will tell you that some other time, but first I want to know if it is true that Klaus is dead?"

She stopped walking at the mention of Klaus' name and wanted to know why Simon was interested in whether or not her uncle was alive.

"Yes, it is true. He is dead." she said curtly.

Simon suddenly turned around and cocked his head a bit to the side, looking at her with a _I don't believe you_ look that made her heart beat faster.

"Now why do I get the feeling that you don't quite believe that?" he asked.

"I don't know, but Klaus _is_ dead. I watched him get killed and saw his corpse burn up. But why are you so interested in knowing if he's alive?" Callie answered.

"Because… Klaus is the one who turned me and if he truly was dead, then so would I be so you see why I find it very odd that I'm still alive."

Callie hadn't seen that coming but it did explain why he'd first said that his maker was dead. However, if he was telling the truth about Klaus turning him, then that meant that Klaus still was very much alive and had somehow avoided getting killed that night.

"Why would Klaus agree to turn you? He doesn't turn just anybody."

"That's true, but I made a little deal with him and I can tell you he became very surprised when I told him that I knew you."

_I don't like this. At all,_ Callie thought. "Even if he's still alive then why would you want to know about it? Are you working for him?"

Simon took another drag of his cigarette and shook his head calmly. "You need to learn how to trust me, Callie. I am not your enemy."

"Then what are you?"

He was about to answer when Callie's cellphone started vibrating and when she took a look she saw that she'd received a text from Damon.

"I have to go. We'll continue or talk later."

Simon flicked his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. "Already? But I'm far from done talking with you."

He smirked darkly and Callie suddenly heard a noise behind her, so she quickly turned around and gasped as she saw Marcus standing behind her with a strange look in his eyes.

It was as if he'd been possessed and was under someone else's control.

"Marcus? What are you–"

"Just give up," Simon interrupted. "He is no longer himself, but he didn't seem to mind it as you did break his heart so badly that he didn't want to feel anything anymore."

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Her best friend and former husband was under Simon's control and there was nothing she could do about it.

Not unless she decided to put on the ring and put herself in danger.

"Let him go, Simon! He has nothing to do with us!"

"Oh, why would I do that? He has so much wonderful information about you, the Originals and-oh, let's not forget about that young vampire you're currently dating. Damon is it?"

Callie gulped and dreaded that Simon would make Marcus hurt her as revenge for what she did to him or something worse.

She turned around and faced Simon. "What do you want from me?"

"As I said before then I want your help. You help me without asking questions and then I will let your little friend go. If not I'll make him do things that will make you regret ever becoming a vampire."

He disappeared and so did Marcus, leaving Callie alone in the woods, fearing for not just her own life but also for her best friend's life.

Leaving the woods as well, she went to the Salvatore Boarding House and overheard an argument going on between Damon and Rebekah.

Callie frowned and went inside, instantly stopping the argument between them even though she never got to say a word.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I was just trying to explain to your asshole of a boyfriend that you are to come with me when you return." Rebekah answered.

"And I was trying to explain to your bratty aunt that I call dibs on you today," Damon said. "I'm sure Kol or Elijah can help you with whatever you need help with."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Callie, this is family business and since you are a part of the family…"

"Will it take long?" Callie asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. But I really _need_ you to come. It's about something your father discussed with you earlier today." she answered.

"You don't have to keep it a secret to Damon, Rebekah. I know now that Klaus is still alive."

Damon's eyes widened. "What did you just say? Klaus is… alive?"

Callie nodded. "Klaus didn't lie to you when he said that he was the one, who started your bloodline. I met with Simon today and he told me that Klaus was the one who turned him and since he isn't dead then it can only mean that Klaus is alive."

"But how is that even possible? We both watched him die!"

"Nik always has been one step ahead," Rebekah said. "It wouldn't surprise me if that witchy friend of yours did something to him before Alaric came."

"Perfect! You kill Elena to stop Alaric, because he killed your brother and now it turns out that your freak of a brother isn't even dead!" Damon snapped.

"Oh be quiet! That girl was going to die soon anyway and at least I stopped your psychotic friend from killing all of us – including your girlfriend!"

"Shut up both of you!" Callie snapped. "We have bigger problems than Klaus being alive. Simon _is_ up to something and he's keeping Marcus as leverage to make me help him."

Damon rolled his eyes. "So? Let him kill Marcus. I don't care!"

Callie glared at him. "But I do and it is not the time to underestimate what Simon can and cannot do without my help. He is dangerous and has to be stopped immediately."

"Then let's stop him. How hard can it be to stop a silly vampire?" Rebekah said calmly.

"Much harder than you think. He's in possession of a powerful ring that allows him to use magic and that in itself is dangerous," Callie said. "Now are you two going to help me or keep bickering?"

Rebekah glared at Damon before she finally gave up the bickering and walked up to Callie. "Fine, what do you want me to do?"

"Tell Kol and my father about what Simon is up to and capable of. I'll meet with you later and we'll discuss what to do about him."

She nodded and left the boarding house, but as Callie was about to leave too Damon quickly went in front of her and blocked her path.

"Hey, what's up with you? Why are you so pissed off?" he asked worriedly.

"Maybe because I can't seem to relax for one minute without something bad happening in my life and because I'm sick and tired of having to deal with people from my past, who's trying to make my life miserable!" Callie snarled.

Damon sighed and wrapped his arms around her, just holding her close to him until she cooled down. "Dance with me a little."

She frowned and looked up at him, but before she could object he was already starting to sway their bodies and twirled her around, making a smile form on her lips.

"You're weird." she said teasingly, but kept dancing with him slowly.

"So I've been told," Damon chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. "Don't worry, Callie. We'll save Marcus and stop Simon, but we'll do it my way 'cause my awesome plans never fail."

"Oh and my plans have? Saying stuff like that won't get me to sleep with you, Damon."

He grinned and twirled her around again, pulling her close to him. "Trust me, Callie. I may be younger than you, but I can find a way to stop that dick and will gladly rip his heart out again."

"You do know that he is over 700 years old, right?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't ruin the moment, love."

"But it is true! And I could easily take you down now if I wanted to."

Damon burst out laughing, so Callie grabbed him by his arm and threw him against the wall, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, pinning him to the wall.

"You know, I don't mind that at all…" he muttered against her lips, kissing her back hard.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**

4


	16. Trapped

**A/N: Heey *coughs* well, this is awkward... I actually forgot to update this story *slaps myself* Bad, Ascha! Bad!**

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews, favs and alerts! ;D**

**OHH! BIG CLIFFIE AT THE END!**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 16:

"Are you sure this is going to work? I mean this cave did refuse to let Klaus inside it…" Elijah said, eying the cave he stood before worriedly.

"What? Are you're scared a bat might ruin your hair?" Damon chuckled.

Elijah glared at the much younger vampire and made Callie roll her eyes. She knew that it would be a bad idea to bring both of them along, but she really didn't want to go down there alone.

Not again.

"Can we just at least try?" she pleaded. "I don't like it down there…"

Damon smirked of her fear, finding it clearly amusing, but when he started walking towards the cave and tried getting inside it, he was thrown back by some unknown force.

Elijah tried hard not to snigger of this.

"Daddy! It's not funny! Now, try taking my hand and let's see if they'll let you in too." Callie grumbled.

He heaved a sigh of exasperation and took her hand in his, carefully walking towards the cave with her until they were completely inside it.

"Hey, it worked!" Callie smiled widely. "Damon, c'mon! Take my hand!"

Damon rolled his eyes, but walked towards the cave again and took Callie's hand as she reached it out for him, pulling him inside the cave as well.

"I really dislike these spirits…" he grumbled. "Now where did you say the graves were?"

Callie took a deep breath and started walking towards the hole she'd made, pointing down into the darkness before switching on her flashlight.

"We better stay together or else we might get lost. This town has many underground tunnels that were created by its very first residents," Elijah said. "Some tunnels may even be over 2000 years old and will most likely crumble if we're not _careful.._."

He cast Damon a look when he said the last part, meaning that he didn't want Damon to kick or touch anything that might make the tunnels break down.

"Oh, I really do find your lack of trust in me very hilarious, Elijah," Damon said sarcastically before jumping into the darkness. "_Are you guys coming or what?_"

Callie gulped of fear as she too jumped in with her father and handed Damon the other flashlight, so he could cast some light onto the dark tunnels as well.

"Oh, poor you. I wouldn't want to be stuck down here."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, poor me… now let's just take a look around and get out as fast as we can. I don't like being here one bit."

The two male vampires nodded and started taking a look around in the coffins, searching for anything at all that could help them in their fight against Simon.

Callie was also terrified that Simon would steal more magical jewelries from her, so she rather preferred the things in her possession than his.

"Who was it you saw when you were last here?" Damon asked, looking into one of the newer coffins.

"Eydís," Callie answered, trying to remember what the woman had told her. "She was my grandmother and told me the story of how werewolves were originally created."

Elijah stopped searching in an old coffin and looked at his daughter. "And how were the werewolves originally created according to her?" he asked curiously.

Callie told him about how the witches and warlock wanted to become one with nature and have more power by combining themselves with the wolves and became werewolves.

"I do remember hearing my mother talking with Ayanna about this once," he said. "Ayanna said that the nature grew angry at the witches after doing what they did and cursed them into transforming at every full moon, losing all control over themselves and their strength."

Damon's eyes widened a little. "Thank God there are not a lot of wolves left then!"

Callie had to nod in agreement and shuddered of the memory of her almost dying of the fatal werewolf bite.

She continued searching in the coffins and tried not to freak out whenever she saw an ancestor of hers lying dead in front of her.

They went on like that for about an hour before one of them finally found something that might be useful.

"Take a look at this," Damon said, handing Callie an ancient but small book. "I think it's made of human skin."

Callie grimaced and was about to throw it away of disgust, but she saw Damon starting to smirk and realized that he was just trying to freak her out.

"Not funny, Damon! I actually _have_ seen a book made of human skin before," she said, opening the book carefully. "Oh look! There's a spell in here that can make any being fall under the spell caster's control."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right!"

Callie smirked. "No, really. There is a spell for that, but I'm not sure if that includes vampires…"

"Let me take a look." Elijah said, looking eager to get a look of it too.

She found it kind of adorable, but he was a Historian and had lived throughout many centuries, so of course he was curious when he saw something that was older than even him.

"Ah, yes… this is book from the 1st century, possibly older, and it contains spells from what seems to be different witches in the world. There's something from Egypt, Mesopotamia, China and–"

"Snore! Get to the good part." Damon interrupted.

Callie giggled. "Damon would so fail History if he had you as a teacher," she said. "Shut up, Damon and listen. This is actually interesting stuff. Go on, Dad."

"Thank you, Callie. To short it down, then it's a collection of spells from all over the world. I assume that the spell they used to create the werewolves lies in here and if that is the case we have to keep it from getting in the wrong hands."

"And by wrong hands he means Simon," Callie added. "You should bring it home before something happens."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can handle it? Damon isn't exactly the best to protect you if something happens."

Damon grimaced of that. "I may not be old, but I can protect her better than you can."

"And here we go again…" Callie sighed heavily. "Just go, Dad. I'll be fine."

Elijah planted a soft kiss on her forehead and swiftly disappeared out of the underground tomb, leaving them on their own.

"You know what could be really naughty to–"

"I'm not having sex with you down here, Damon. That's just… no," Callie interrupted, shaking her head of him. "Let's continue looking."

Damon pouted but followed her deeper into the dark tomb and made sure to stay close to her in case something happened.

"You're surprisingly calm right now…" he said as they walked.

It was true.

Ever since Damon had agreed to come with her into the tomb she had felt some sort of calmness in her mind and when he walked close to her she felt so safe.

"I can thank you for that," she said, kissing him on his lips briefly. "I think your presence distracts me from the fear."

Damon smiled and wrapped his arm around her, but his smile suddenly faded as someone appeared in the darkness.

Simon.

"Let me guess… you're the dick who broke my girl's heart, am I right?" he scoffed, tightening his grip around Callie protectively.

Simon flashed a dark smirk. "Oh, yes. That will be me. Did she tell you that I was the one who took her virginity too?" he asked and laughed.

Callie nearly jumped on him in rage if Damon hadn't been holding her tightly to him. She still cursed at herself for letting herself get fooled so easily by him.

"Well, hello Damon. It's… a pleasure to finally meet you. I truly do not understand how the spirits would let you in, but they do have a soft spot for Callie," Simon said, ignoring Callie's failed attempt to jump on him. "As do I. She is… everything I look for in a wife."

Callie wasn't sure if Simon was saying that to piss Damon off or if he was serious, but he definitely managed to get Damon in a _very_ bad mood.

"Sorry, she's kind of taken. By _me_!"

Damon flashed his fangs and went to attack Simon, but he was quickly pulled back by Callie. She wasn't stupid and knew that there was a reason why Simon was suddenly in the tomb.

"How do you know about the spell to take control over other beings? I'm pretty sure it's the one in the book we just found you used on Marcus." she said.

Simon smirked. "Callie, you're forgetting that my family consists of witches and warlocks too. Of course I've heard of it and I'd be more than happy to use it on your boyfriend."

Damon realized why Callie had pulled him back and made sure to keep himself under control unless he wanted to… well, end up under Simon's control.

"Nice try, but I'm not letting you get anywhere near Damon or my family!"

She discreetly slipped the magical ring on her finger in case Simon tried attacking her, but it wasn't Simon who suddenly made a move on them.

It was Marcus.

He came almost out of nowhere and tackled Damon hard into a wall, making the tunnel shake a bit of the impact and a few loose stones fall from the ceiling.

Callie raised her hand to break the fight up between them and was suddenly struck by an unknown force that sent her flying into a wall as well.

She looked up, her eyes widening at the sight of seeing Simon's eyes glowing bright red.

He raised his own hand and made her hit another wall, while Marcus fought with Damon and slowly approached the fighting vampires, obviously trying to keep her at a safe distance long enough for him to take Damon from her.

"Damon! Get away!" she screamed.

Damon turned his head and quickly moved out of the way as Simon went to touch his back, grabbing a piece of wood that lay on the ground.

He went to stake Simon in his heart with it, however, Simon suddenly disappeared and moved towards Callie, wrapping his arm around her throat and holding a real stake over her chest.

"One step, Salvatore… and you'll lose her," he warned. "Now are you going to come with me willingly or do you want me to start hurting her?"

Callie mouthed to Damon to stay where he was and quietly chanted a summoning spell that would make a relative of hers appearing.

"But if you kill her then you'll lose your 'bride', won't you? You need Callie for something and can't do it without her. Or else you wouldn't be trying to get leverage." Damon said, trying to stall Simon.

"That's true, but I can still hurt her and-oh, that little spell you're trying to do won't work. I've closed the port between the Other Side and our world. We're _all_ _alone_ in here!" Simon said and laughed darkly.

Callie groaned and stepped on his foot as hard as she could, then quickly turned around and planted her fist in his face.

He growled and raised his hand at the ceiling, making the stones break loose and fall down towards Damon in an alarming speed.

Callie did the only thing she could think of doing at that moment and threw herself at Damon, pushing him out of the way and flew into another fall in the process.

The impact was so hard that the tunnel started falling apart and during all the turmoil Simon and Marcus disappeared, while Callie and Damon were trapped in each side of the tunnel, separated from each other by the heavy mass of stones.

"Damon!" Callie shouted, coughing hard because of all the dust. "Damon!"

She tried standing up, but her body too was trapped under all the stones…

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	17. My Savior

**A/N: Hiii, this will probably be my last update until Saturday because of my exams, but thanks for the reviews! :D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 17:

It felt like hours of non-stop struggling to remove the stones and with nearly all her bones broken in her body, she felt like giving up during half of the time.

Even with the ring still being in her possession it would be hard to get out, so Callie kept it in her pocket and used her strength instead until she was free.

However, once she was finally able to stand up she wasn't able to see a thing in the darkness and rocks were blocking the tunnel that led back to their freedom.

"Damon!" she called out as loud as she could.

She heard the faint sound of a cough somewhere and tried finding Damon, hoping badly that he was all right.

After spending an hour of searching and calling for him she heard another cough and this one was much louder, but the sound had come from behind a mass of rocks.

"Damon! Damon, are you in there?" she cried, feeling her tears mixing with the dirt on her cheeks.

"_Callie!_" Damon said hoarsely.

She quickly slipped on the ring on her finger and started chanting a spell that would make the rocks turn to dirt, but using the ring made her injuries heal slower and her pain increase.

But she was able to pull Damon out once the rocks had turned into dirt and carefully knelt down beside his body even though her aching body screamed at her not to.

"Damon, are you ok?" she asked worriedly, brushing the dirt off his face.

"I've been worse…" he muttered through gritted teeth. "How are you? You look like you're in pain."

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Let's just get out of here, please?"

He nodded and helped her stand up as he rose from the ground, taking a look around he tried finding a way out of the darkness.

"There! I think we can go this way." Damon said, nodding towards a very dim light in the far distant.

Callie didn't hesitate to follow him towards the light, but because of the pain she kept falling behind and made Damon more worried about her – something she didn't want.

"Wait," He suddenly swept her up from the ground and continued walking with her in his arms. "I know you're in pain. You're a terrible liar, love."

Callie rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine when we get out and I _can_ walk."

He shook his head. "Nope. Sorry. You saved my life, so I'm saving yours."

That shut her mouth for now and her mouth stayed this way until they reached the end of the tomb, suddenly finding themselves in another part of the many tunnels the town hid.

"I think we ended up in the cave where the tale of the Originals is," Damon said, looking around suspiciously. "Let's try not to activate any booby-traps."

"Agreed," Callie said, holding on tighter to Damon's body. "Do you have your cell phone? I think I lost mine."

Damon searched his pockets and took out his cell phone, handing it to her. Despite the fact that the screen was broken then it still worked, however there was no signal where they were.

"Damn it! Guess we'll just have to keep walking."

He groaned and continued walking in the direction of what he hoped was the exit and to their luck it was in fact the way out they'd been looking for.

Once they were out Callie called Elijah to let him know of what had happened and asked if he had hid the book they'd found.

"_What the hell did you two do in there?_" Kol asked, making both of them flinch.

Callie's cheek blushed brightly, because from where Kol stood it looked like they'd slept together in the cave and perhaps fought a little too.

"We didn't have sex if that's what you're wondering," Damon snapped. "We got trapped by that douchebag Simon."

Kol raised a brow and instantly hurried to Callie, taking her out of Damon's arms and looking at all her injuries.

"That's the last time I'm letting you go into a cave unprotected," he said, then turned to Damon. "I'll get her home. You just go be annoying somewhere else."

Damon headed to plant his fist in Kol's face, while Kol prepared to fight back, so Callie quickly raised her hands and gave them both an aneurism until they calmed down.

"We don't have time for this, guys! Simon is still on the loose and we still don't know where Klaus is!" she rasped.

"Actually, we've found Klaus. Or more likely – he found us. He's at the mansion now with the others." Kol said calmly.

"So Klaus truly is back and in Tyler's body?" Damon asked.

Both Callie and Kol nodded, making Damon grimace. "Well, there's nothing weird about that…" he muttered sarcastically.

Kol rolled his eyes at that and helped Callie getting home while Damon went back to his own home to take a shower.

By the time Callie returned to the mansion she was now fully healed, but her body still felt sore from head to toe.

Despite the soreness she still ran to Elijah as soon as she saw him and hugged him tightly, wishing that he'd been there to stop Simon.

"Please forgive me for leaving. I should have stayed and protected you," he muttered into her hair, then cupped her face in his hands and looked at her dirty and blood stained clothes. "Tell me that you didn't use the ring, did you?"

She nodded. "I had to, Dad. Damon was going to die… but where's Klaus?" she asked, looking around for him.

"_I'm here, Freya…_" a familiar voice said, but the voice didn't belong to Klaus.

Instead Callie saw Tyler entering the room, but he stood the way Klaus did and looked at her in the same way her uncle always did.

Before she knew it she was standing before him, slapping him hard with rage glowing in her eyes.

"Why would you turn him? Why?" she rasped.

"Who?" Klaus asked, pretending to not know what she was talking about.

"You know damn well whom I'm talking about. Simon! The warlock _you_ turned into a vampire and who told you about what I did in the 14th century!" Callie snapped.

Klaus smirked and raised a brow. "Fine, yes. I did turn him in return for information about you and your whereabouts."

Callie felt like slapping him again for being so foolish and she was about to do it if Elijah hadn't taken her upstairs against her will.

"Fighting with Klaus is not what you should be focusing on right now. You've been through a lot today and should rest. Let me take care of how we stop Simon, understood?" he said.

Callie nodded reluctantly and headed back to her bedroom, finding Damon waiting in there in new and clean clothes.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered worriedly, closing her door behind her.

"Checking up on you. I know you hate that I worry about you, but I'm supposed to do that. I'm your boyfriend after all." Damon said quietly.

"You are, but Klaus is right downstairs."

Damon rolled his eyes and pulled her gently to him, wiping some dirt off her cheek with his thumb and leaning in to kiss her lips softly.

"I want you to move in with me again."

Her eyes widened a little and even though she liked living in such a big mansion with her entire family, then she needed a place where she could be alone with Damon.

"Okay. I'll move in tomorrow."

Damon looked at her with a surprised look on his face as if he hadn't expected her to say yes that quickly, but he was happy and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm surprised you wanted that too."

She giggled. "I'm full of surprises, Damon. You know that."

"Hmm, remind me to never play poker against you… unless it's strip poker." He grinned.

"Oh, I'm all for that! But some other time, ok? I really need a shower now and new clothes and…"

"Rest. I know." Damon leaned down to her lips and kissed her tenderly. "Goodnight, Callie."

"Night, my wonderful, strong, sexy–"

Damon placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. "What are you trying to suck up for?"

She blushed brightly. "I'm not sucking up for anything! I just want to compliment my savior."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Ok, now I'm definitely sure that you want something."

"I don't want anything! Well, I do want you, but that's something entirely different we'll have lots of time to do when I move in with you."

Damon pulled her in for another passionate kiss and kept her in his arms until he'd left Callie breathless before he broke the kiss, disappearing out of the room through the open window.

Callie sighed, smiling of happiness of being back together with him and finally went to take a long shower, thinking about the amazing kiss Damon had given her.

After the shower she pulled on her pajamas and was ready to go to bed, but a knock followed by Rebekah entering the room stopped her from getting rest.

"I heard what happened. Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm sore, but fine. I just want some sleep and… I'm actually moving out of the mansion tomorrow… to move in with Damon if that's ok." Callie answered hesitantly.

Rebekah raised a brow but didn't seem surprised. "Oh… well, of course. With Klaus being here, I think it might be for the best, but what about your birthday party?"

Callie frowned and looked up at her. "My birthday?"

"Yes! It's in a few days. You thought I'd forgotten? I was the one who turned you on your 18th birthday, you fool," Rebekah laughed and hugged her niece. "You turn 1001. That needs to be celebrated and especially after all the things you've been through."

"Oh… um… I don't really want a birthday party, Rebekah. I don't like holding my birthday and it's not like I'm actually getting older. I'm 18 forever."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "You have to have a birthday party. This is the first time our entire family has been together… well, most of it."

Callie groaned. "But really? Now? We have to–"

"We will do that too but just because Simon is on the loose it doesn't mean that you can't celebrate anything. I'll plan your birthday and you just relax until then. Promise?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Rebekah laughed again. "No, not really."

She hugged her niece and finally let Callie sleep, but now Callie didn't feel so tired anymore.

She'd never liked holding birthday parties, because they meant nothing when she wouldn't actually grow older.

If she was a normal child she would've been dead for over 900 years ago – not celebrating her 1001st birthday.

And especially not without her best friend…

"1001 years old… God, I really am old!" she muttered, rubbing her tired eyes.

"_You feel old? Then look at your old man – he is old!_" Kol said, standing at the door.

Callie rolled her eyes and threw a pillow in his face. "See! This is why I'm moving out! You're like the annoying older brother I never wanted." she said.

Kol faked a hurt expression. "Ouch! That's no way to talk to your uncle."

"But you _are_ the annoying older brother _I_ never wanted," Rebekah said pulling him out of the room. "Now let her sleep, you dumbass. Night, Callie!"

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	18. Happy Birthday

**A/N: *slaps my hand* Bad Ascha! I'm really sorry from the bottom of my heart for giving you this very late update, but I have been extremely busy because of my exams, birthday and then I became temporarily blind in my right eye so... *dies***

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 18:

"I'm really, really, really sorry I wasn't there for you earlier," Callie said, looking down at her feet because she was too embarrassed to look the newly turned Elena Gilbert in her eyes. "Can you forgive me?"

Elena giggled and pulled Callie inside her home, hugging her tightly.

"Of course, silly. I heard what happened to you and Damon a few days ago," she said. "Are you ok?

Callie chuckled. "I should be asking you that! But yes, I am ok. I'm just still really pissed off about Klaus and my psycho ex-boyfriend being back from the dead."

"Don't worry about me. I… I mean it is really hard to control the hunger. I'm really surprised of how strong it is."

Callie nodded, remembering clearly how hungry she was when she was first turned. "You'll get used to it eventually, but until then I'll be here to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't lose your self-control."

Elena smiled and after giving Callie another hug to thank her, she took her with her into the kitchen where Bonnie and Caroline were discussing the difference between animal blood and human blood.

"Callie! There you are! It feels like forever since we've last spend any time with you," Caroline said, beaming. "I heard you've moved into the Salvatores again?"

"Yes, as much as I enjoy spending time with my crazy family then I really dislike being bothered every five minutes by two certain uncles."

Caroline realized who Callie was talking about and sighed weakly, thinking back to when she was told that the Tyler she loved was dead and in his body was Klaus now.

All because Bonnie was trying to save everyone she loved and cared about.

An awkward silence fell around the four girls, so Callie cleared her throat and decided to change the subject of the conversation.

"So… are any of you going to the 70s Decade Dance next month?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course! I am in the committee that planned the dance after all and now that Rebekah has had her stupid 20s Decade Dance we can finally continue having mine." Caroline answered.

Callie and Bonnie laughed, but Elena hesitated a bit, looking worried about something. "It'll be fine Elena," Callie said. "I know it's scary, but it's good training. You can't hide at home forever."

"That's what we've been trying to tell her all day!" Caroline grumbled.

"No, c'mon! If Elena doesn't want to go we shouldn't force her, right Elena?" Bonnie said.

Elena bit her lip and shook her head. "They're right Bonnie. I should give it a shot and Stefan has promised to go with me if I choose to go."

"Great but we still have lots of time to prepare you for the dance and you're lucky to have two experienced vampires and a witch to help you with that."

Caroline laughed. "Callie, I don't think experienced covers what you are. I mean you have been around for 1000 years now."

_1001 to be precise,_ Callie thought. _But they don't need to know that._

"Oh shush! I'm not that old. I mean, I'm not as old as my dad, that's for sure!"

They all laughed warmly and right at that moment it actually felt like they were just a group of normal girls.

"Anyway, I–"

Callie was interrupted by the sound of knocking on the front door and they all went out to see who it was, but the only thing that was at the door was an invitation lying on the ground.

Elena frowned and picked the invitation up, opening it and gasping when she saw what it said.

"It's your birthday today, Callie?" she asked, pointing at the card.

Callie frowned too and took the card, growling lowly when she saw what it said too.

"You are cordially invited to the 18th birthday of Freya Callistus Mikaelson tonight at 9 o'clock for lots of celebration; entertainment and dancing… like what the hell? I didn't agree to have a party!" Callie exclaimed.

"I don't know what's mostly shocking; the fact that you didn't even tell us that it was your birthday or the fact that we got this at such a short notice!" Caroline grumbled.

"But-but! I didn't plan this! I didn't even want a birthday party!"

Bonnie laughed. "Well obviously your family does and I don't think they'll be happy about the birthday child not showing up tonight." she said.

"Aww man!" Callie pouted and felt like screaming at that moment.

"_It's your birthday today?_" The sound of Damon's voice made Callie instantly blush.

"No!" she exclaimed, ripping the invitation he and Elena had got in multiple pieces. "No way! This is a joke. Just forget about it and-and–"

"It is her birthday today, isn't it?" Damon asked the others.

They nodded, making him chuckle. "Dare I ask how old you'll be?"

Callie glared at him and walked back into the kitchen, feeling like stabbing herself with a knife just to avoid having to go to her own party.

She _hated_ her birthday and she _hated _ surprises, but she did get warned by Rebekah.

Shaking her head, she turned her gaze back to the others and noticed that they were all staring at her with a confused look on their face.

Clearly, they didn't understand why she was freaking out so much.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone get so…"

"Hysterical? Freaked out? Crazy?" Damon finished teasingly.

Elena rolled her eyes. "No, I was going to say 'anxious'!" she retorted.

Callie huffed and took a deep breath before she tried coming up with a good explanation, but how did she explain something like this to them?

"I just don't like holding my birthday, ok? And I'm not going to my birthday party tonight."

She swiftly left the house, heading straight to the Mikaelson Mansion to confront Rebekah about the party, but once she saw the inside of her old home she knew that Rebekah had spent a lot of time and money on getting the mansion to look amazing for her birthday.

"_Could you damn hybrids please hurry up! We've only got five hours left before the party begins!_" Rebekah snarled in the ballroom.

Callie heaved a sigh of exasperation and walked into the ballroom, catching Rebekah in the middle of trying to set up some decoration with the help of Klaus' remaining hybrids.

"Rebekah, we have to talk," Callie said, catching the female Original's attention. "Why would you invite everyone in town for my birthday party? I don't even want to celebrate my birthday – let alone have this big of a party!"

"Callie, stop being so introverted, depressed and tedious. I know you don't like partying, but after all the shit we've been through we need to party and have fun or else we'll all have a mental breakdown – _you_ will have a mental breakdown."

Callie rolled her eyes. "That might be, but then you can party while I do something else. I'm not coming to this party tonight!"

"What? But then this would all have gone to waste! Callie did you or did you not spend 1000 years of your life trying to find your father?"

"I did but–"

"But nothing! Not once have you celebrated your birthday properly and always been focused on something else. I want you to come to this party tonight and you're going to enjoy it, understand? Don't make me compel you or get your father."

Rebekah stormed out of the ballroom, leaving Callie speechless and stunned by Rebekah's sudden outburst.

But she knew that Rebekah was only saying all these things because she cared deeply about her and loved her like a sister or – in this case – like the aunt she was to her.

"She means it well…" Elijah said, joining her in the ballroom. "She's just worried about your happiness."

"I know, Dad, but as much as I appreciate what she's doing for me, then I just can't go to this party. I… There's a reason why I don't like celebrating my birthday."

Elijah raised a brow, looking worriedly at his daughter. "And that is…?"

Callie sighed heavily, feeling tears brimming in her eyes. "Mom died the day before my 15th birthday. I literally spent my birthday burying her and… it changed me."

Elijah pulled her into his embrace and just held her there without saying a word, knowing already how much she missed her mother despite having met her several times as a spirit.

"Do what you want, but just remember that Rebekah too hasn't had an easy life. She spent most of her time running with Klaus and 90 years in a coffin."

Callie looked up at him, biting her lip. "Ok… She did put a lot of effort in this party and… and one birthday party can't harm. But… will Klaus be there?"

Elijah frowned. "Of course."

She groaned, but nodded in defeat. "Ok, ok, I'll go but your siblings better behave tonight. I don't want Klaus or Kol to get into any fights."

Elijah chuckled. "I promise I won't let them ruin your party."

Callie smiled brightly and reluctantly walked upstairs to Rebekah to get a dress she could wear for the party, sending a few texts to her friends and letting them know that the party was still on.

The hours right up until the party passed by quicker than Callie expected and once the hall was once again filled up with half of the town, she knew that there was no time to back out now.

She was going down to celebrate her birthday and had to forget her bad childhood memories.

Upon seeing Damon entering the hall wearing a fancy black tux, she finally decided to make an appearance and walked nervously down the stairs, wearing a beautiful dark blue, silver and black gown that fit her perfectly.

It did sadden her that Marcus wasn't anywhere to be seen, but as soon as the party was over she would focus on finding him again.

"You look amazing, birthday girl," Damon said, smiling as he leaned in to kiss her lips. "And here I thought you didn't want to have a party?"

"I don't. I mean… I didn't before, but I had talk with Rebekah and my dad and… changed my mind," Callie said, smiling softly. "And I am turning 1001, yes."

Damon raised a brow. "Well, if it helps then you don't look a day over 18."

She laughed and wrapped her arms around him, going to kiss him until she suddenly spotted someone in the crowd that made her eyes widen.

Klaus was back in his old body and looked just as dangerous as before.

"Oh great… Niklaus is here." she said, rolling her eyes.

Damon looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes too. "Forget about him. As long as he's not going to do anything stupid, then I'll only be keeping an eye on you tonight."

Callie didn't want to see him at the party – not after knowing that he was the reason why her life had gotten messed up again.

"Happy birthday, Freya!" Kol exclaimed, pushing Damon away harder than what was necessary to give her a hug. "I have a present for you later, but you're only getting it if you promise to save me a dance."

"Dance with you? Pfft! No way, Kol," Callie teased, hugging him back. "But if you behave and make sure that Klaus behaves too, then I'll save you a dance."

He pouted. "Aw, you buzzkill! Fine, I'll just get in trouble with Nik somewhere else tonight."

He winked and continued, allowing Damon to pull her in for another and more passionate kiss that she truly needed tonight.

"You know, I have two presents for you too and–"

"Let me guess… epic birthday sex with you?"

Damon grinned. "Yes and the second thing I'll show you later tonight."

That caught Callie's interest and she wanted to ask what he'd gotten for her, but the sound of her father's voice stopped her and she was suddenly forced up on the staircase to him for a toast.

"You're really going to do a toast for me? In front of all these people?" Callie asked quietly.

"Yes, and you better put on a smile because everyone is looking at you," Elijah answered teasingly and then raised his glass of champagne. "Welcome everyone. Thank you for coming tonight…"

**Thanks for the reviews and for reading this chap! oh and I hope you'll review! :D**


	19. The Second Present

**A/N: Hellooo, sorry about the short update, but I've had to go to the hospital a lot lately (and is going tomorrow morning) so that was all I could give you for now, but I'll give you a longer chap next time**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 19:

"Where's your boyfriend?" Klaus asked, walking up to Callie as she waited in the ballroom.

"Getting me a drink." she answered without looking at him, still feeling pissed off about him being at her party.

Klaus raised a brow and suddenly started laughing warmly. "I hear Elena became a vampire… that's unfortunate."

"For you, yes. Not so much for the rest of us."

He took a sip of his glass and walked up to stand in front of her. "Freya, this resentment towards me… you can't keep on forever."

"Oh really? Watch me."

Callie tried walking away from him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "I don't regret turning Simon but I do regret trying to turn you into a ripper. You are too much like your father to become like me."

"Is that a compliment or insult?"

He rolled his eyes and let go of her arm. "Stay out of Simon's way and live your life. You don't need to worry about him… Oh, and happy birthday."

Walking away from her and disappearing the crowd of people, he left her feeling confused and curious about what he meant by that.

Stay out of Simon's way and live your life…

There was something fishy about the whole way he acted whenever she brought up Simon and she started wondering if Klaus was up to something new.

But Damon soon returned with their drinks and made her forget about the strange meeting with Klaus, pulling her out on the dance floor once they'd had a sip of their drinks and dancing slowly with her.

"So how does it feel to be 1001?" he asked teasingly.

"I feel really, really, _really_ old to be honest, but… it's kind of cool. I mean, I might not be an Original but I'm almost as old as one." Callie answered.

"You're a cougar compared to me."

Callie smacked him on his arm, making him laugh and lean down to kiss her softly. "I love you, Damon. You're my eternal sexy stud."

"Of course I am. And I love my little cougar-girl." He winked and kissed her again, this time with more passion and intensity, making Callie's knees go a little weak.

She loved how he still had that effect on her and wondered how long they'd stay together. So far they'd been together on and off for almost a year and their relationship had been truly chaotic.

But now…

Now their relationship seemed fine and everything was calm.

"You want your second present now?" Damon whispered seductively in her ear.

"Mmm… only if I get the first one too." Callie whispered, grinning.

Damon chuckled and twirled her around before he led her out of the ballroom, taking their glasses with them they then went upstairs to her bedroom.

Taking a seat on her old bed she watched as Damon took out a box from his pocket and sat down beside her.

Callie's first thought was that he was going to propose to her and the thought of being engaged to Damon made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

She did want to marry one day because she'd been alone for so long and even though her last marriage didn't work out, then she had a good feeling about Damon.

However, as he handed her the box and she opened it, she didn't find a ring but a stunning bracelet that looked centuries old and had a pendant with the Salvatore crest.

"Oh…?" she knew that she sounded confused and disappointed and when she looked up at Damon, she found him eying her worriedly.

"You don't like it?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It's not that. I just… it's nothing. Forget it. Thank you, Damon."

Damon raised a brow, not quite ready to let it go. "No, tell me what's wrong? You seem… disappointed."

Callie sighed heavily and felt her cheeks flushing. "I… don't know. I guess I kind of hoped it was something else."

He frowned but then seemed to understand what she meant and for the first time in a long time she saw his cheeks flushing a bit too.

"Oh… Callie, I do love you, but…"

"You don't have to tell me. I don't want to know why you don't want it."

She stood up and left him alone in his bedroom, hurrying outside to the garden and hoping to be able to hide out there as the tears brimmed in her eyes.

She knew that Damon had trouble being in a committed relationship, so why did it surprise her so much that he wasn't thinking about marriage?

Or perhaps it was more because of the fact that he hadn't lived for 1001 years like she had.

No matter what the real reason was then she couldn't handle hearing it, so she just sat on a bench outside in the darkness and looked at the bracelet he'd given her.

It was… very beautiful and she could guess that it had belonged to either his mother or grandmother, because it seemed to have been made in the early 19th century.

The chain was made of silver and adorned with a beautiful floral pattern around it and lapis lazuli stones in the center of the flowers.

On the backside of the pendant was a couple of initials that had been engraved, but she had no idea what the initials stood for – except for the S at the end of course.

"Callie? What are you doing out here alone?" The sound of her father's voice made her heart skip a beat and she looked up at him.

"I… well, I was going to sob and feel pity on myself, but couldn't do it," Callie said, shrugging. "What's your excuse for leaving the party?"

Elijah sat down next to her and sighed. "Kol was being a pain to be honest. He wants me to… 'get laid' as he put it."

Callie stared blankly at her father for a moment and then burst out laughing. "I'm not even going to comment on that."

"Good. I don't want you to comment on that anyway. But why did you really come out here and why is Damon looking for you?"

The smile on her lips faded and she looked down at the bracelet in her hands. "I thought he was going to propose to me tonight, but… he gave me this bracelet instead. I know it's silly of me to become disappointed. I mean, he's never been married before or even given marriage a thought."

"Ah… well, you don't need to marry him to be with him. You know that, right? You'll still be together but the difference between being married and just a couple is that you'll bear his last name."

Callie nodded, knowing that he was right. "But… I don't know. I guess I just want to be his no matter what happens and know that he's my husband – not just my boyfriend."

"Did you tell him this?"

Callie shook her head. "I kind of… stormed out. Oops."

Elijah smiled softly and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him. "Go back inside and talk with him then. He's concerned about you."

"But Dad! I–"

"Oh, look at that! There's Damon! Damon! We're over here!"

Damon, who was on his way back inside, heard Elijah's voice and finally spotted Callie, heading straight to her as Callie smacked her father on the arm.

"You're so going to pay for that, Father." she hissed before he left the bench and went back inside.

"Why did you run away?" Damon asked angrily.

"Isn't that obvious?" Callie answered dryly, feeling her cheeks turning red.

Damon sighed and sat down next to her, noticing that she was wearing the bracelet now. "I'm sorry I didn't give you an engagement ring, but it's not because I don't love you."

"I know why you didn't do it and it's not your fault. I shouldn't even have thought that you'd want to marry me. I mean… you're…"

Damon let out a low growl. "I'm what?"

Callie looked into angry eyes and calmly answered. "You're Damon Salvatore. You're not the marrying kind and rarely stay in a long relationship with anyone."

"That's not true. I… yes, I do admit that I'm not a big fan of marriage, but one day I would like to marry someone and I want that someone to be you. Just not now."

She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her lap again. "I think it's because of the age difference… I've been around for so long and you haven't."

"True, but that doesn't mean that we can't have an awesome relationship."

Callie smiled and looked back up at him, about to say something when she spotted Marcus standing a few feet away from them, wearing a tux like everyone else.

"Marcus? What are you doing here?" she asked, quickly stand up and ready to fight if he attacked them.

He didn't answer, but just took out a stake and his gaze immediate fell on Damon, so Callie quickly tackled him to the ground and felt the stake going into her stomach.

"Damon, get Elijah! Now!" she growled, trying her best to hold Marcus down.

Damon hesitated a bit, but quickly dashed inside as she struggled to keep him down.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**

4


	20. The Parasite

**A/N: Helloo, again my muse refused assist me... I seriously think Damon kidnapped her from me or something -_-**

**But I'll try updating faster next time even if the chapter will be short, thanks for the reviews, favs and alerts! :D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 20:

"Tell me why you are here," Elijah commanded as Marcus was firmly chained to a chair in the basement of the mansion. "Did Simon send you?"

Callie felt Marcus' gaze on hers and the look in his eyes screamed of darkness. She couldn't recognize the soul inside her old best friend anymore, because it was clouded by Simon's magic.

And when Marcus started laughing darkly instead of answering the Original's question, Callie knew that Simon had ordered him not to say anything.

"We won't get anything out of him," she said, sighing wearily. "Not even compulsion can get through that strong magic."

She felt Damon's arms tightening around her and was happy that he was safe, because the thought of losing him hurt as badly as when she lost her mother.

"Don't worry," he whispered, kissing the top of her head. "We'll knock some sense into his head."

Callie hoped he was right and took another glance at her possessed best friend. His dark hair was all tousled, his eyes looked tired and the entire time he kept his gaze on her like a hawk.

It was so eerie and unreal like a nightmare.

Elijah stepped away from Marcus and turned his gaze to his daughter. "What do you want to do with him then?"

Callie bit her lip and looked up at Damon's blue eyes. "Do you trust me?"

He frowned. "Let me guess. You're gonna do something dangerous I won't approve of, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Ok, fine. But I'm only trusting you this one time because it's your birthday."

He pecked her lips and left very reluctantly along with the rest of Callie's family until she was alone with Marcus.

Callie noticed that Klaus' gaze lingered a bit too long on Marcus and so did a concerned look in his eyes, but she wasn't sure what he was concerned about.

Once she was completely alone she locked the basement door and walked up to Marcus, unclasping her necklace to take off the ring she'd found in her family's tomb.

She'd carried the ring on her necklace ever since she got it back in case she needed it and now as one of those times.

"He just wants you, Freya…" Marcus said darkly. "He and the master need you."

Callie raised a brow and slipped the ring on, instantly feeling the intensity of just how strong the darkness inside Marcus was.

"Which master? Is Simon working for someone?" she asked, placing her hand on his chained up arm.

Marcus grinned and looked at her with the look of a madman. "We all work for someone, don't we? The master is… he is our king and our God. A true leader."

If Callie didn't know that Marcus was possessed right now she would be genuinely terrified of him and to know that her best friend could be like this made her heart ache.

"Marcus, this isn't you. You have to fight what's inside you. I know it's hard, but you have to try. Do it for me." she said pleadingly.

She sensed a small spark of resistance in Marcus and placed her other hand on his other arm, hoping to use her magic to give her friend more power.

But as she let her magic flow inside him the darkness started reacting and she could feel it trying to consume her instead like a parasite looking for a new host.

She tried letting go of Marcus and moving away, but the darkness held on to her and was fighting so hard to take over her body and mind.

"No! Damon!" she cried out. "Damon!"

Damon was already on his way down the stairs the second she called his name the first time and quickly dashed towards her, pulling her away from Marcus and preventing the parasite-like darkness to attach to her.

The power of the darkness completely shocked and overwhelmed Callie.

She'd never felt anything so dark, cold and _evil_ before in her entire life.

"I know he's still in there, but… I need to try a something stronger. Maybe a spell–"

"No, Callie. You are not trying anything else. This is too dangerous even for you," Damon snapped. "There's nothing you can do for Marcus. Let's focus on Simon instead."

Callie felt tears prickling in her eyes and forced herself to look away from the possessed vampire, wishing so badly that there was something she could do for him.

"Please, Damon. Just… one more time."

"No." The curt reply made Callie look up at him and she just knew that he wasn't going to back down, so she walked back upstairs to the others.

The ballroom was now empty and the mansion was silent as all the guests had gone home. It was nearly 3:00 AM but Callie didn't feel tired at all.

"We'll keep him locked up until we find a way to break whatever hold Simon has on him…" Elijah said, smiling reassuringly.

"Yes and when we've found Simon we'll rip his head off." Rebekah added.

Callie said nothing, but she did keep an eye on Klaus and noticed that he'd been behaving a bit strangely after seeing Marcus at the party.

"I need some fresh air," she lied. "Why don't you join me, Klaus?"

Everyone raised a brow at that – even Klaus – but he remained calm and nodded, following her outside through the back of the mansion that led to the woods.

Callie made sure that they were outside eavesdropping range before she stopped dead in her tracks and slapped him hard across his face.

"I can't believe I was so stupid to think that you actually would stop your foolish plans once Elena became a vampire!" she growled.

Klaus snorted and eyed as if she'd just accused him of being Santa Claus.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said through gritted teeth.

"Sure you do! I don't think for a second that you've fooled me. Simon is working for you and trying to do something that he needs a lot of magic to do. That's why he wants me to help him and why he suddenly appeared in my life."

Klaus shook his head of her. "I admit that I did turn him, but not to do any of this. I am not planning anything and I have no idea what he is up to."

Callie might not have known Klaus for 1000 years, but she could see when someone from her family was lying and although Klaus was hiding something from them all, then this wasn't it.

"So you're not planning to create more hybrids with the help of dark magic?"

"No, I'm not. Even if I somehow managed to make more werewolves, then my blood is useless on them now that Elena is a vampire."

That troubled Callie.

If Klaus wasn't this "master" then who was it? And why did he want her so badly?

"Klaus, I need you to promise me something. Whatever happens then you have to promise that you will help me stop Simon and whoever he's working for. I felt the darkness inside Marcus and it is much worse than anything I've ever experienced before."

"I know and I promise I will help if you will do me a favor later."

She frowned. "A favor? What kind of favor?"

"One that involves some of your own magic. Do we have a deal?"

She nodded without hesitating, because she didn't care what she had to promise him right now as long as he would help her.

They returned to the mansion again and retrieved to their bedroom, while Damon drove Callie back to his home.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She looked at him and decided to press her lips against his cheek, making him smile. "Thank you for saving me again."

"You're welcome, but you so owe me now."

"Oh really? Let me guess… you want me to pay with something that's not money?"

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her passionately as he drove and she responded to his kiss, ignoring the fact that they could crash at any minute.

The passionate kiss continued all the way to the boarding house and even as Damon had parked, it just kept growing more and more intense.

Callie needed this and she needed to forget about the disaster of a birthday party she'd had. Damon picked her up and dashed inside the house with her without breaking the kiss.

Continuing the kiss upstairs, Damon tore her dress off and pushed her against the wall, kissing her deeply and hungrily.

Despite her birthday party not going well she still got to spend the night with Damon and she enjoyed every bit of it the passionate moment.

She loved how he was able to make her feel like they were the only two people in the world, how he made her entire body tingle of excitement and joy just by caressing her cheek and how he made every moment in bed special.

Callie was beyond sure that she madly in love with him and at that moment she realized that she didn't need a wedding ring on her finger to know that he felt the same way about her.

"Wow, you weren't joking when you said we would have awesome birthday sex," she said teasingly as she lay panting in his embrace. "Or that it involved whipped cream."

Damon flashed his trademark smirk and his lips collided with hers again in another passionate kiss that woke up a burning lust inside her.

"I love you, Damon…" she whispered, enjoying the sight of the smile that instant formed on his lips.

"I love you–"

The lights above them suddenly started to flicker wildly and a hazy white form appeared to not just Callie but also Damon.

The white form slowly began turning a few shades darker as its features became clearer to them and without warning the figure blasted towards them, heading straight for Callie.

She felt the spirit being absorbed inside her and let out a loud gasp as she sensed who the spirit was and why it was here.

It was here to protect her from whatever evil that dwelled in both Simon and Marcus.

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	21. Ásta

**A/N: Hello... *sighs* I'm so sorry. I really did try making it longer, but I've hit a writer's block when it comes to this story. **

**But thank you still for the reviews and if I get some new inspiration I'll give you more chaps than I planned to write.**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 21:

Callie awoke with a gasp to find Damon hovering over her with a concerned look in his blue eyes and blinked a few times to adjust her new and slightly enhanced sight.

Everything felt and looked so vivid as if… she was high on something.

Reaching out to touch Damon's face she giggled quietly as she ran her fingertips over his slight stubble.

Damon frowned.

"Why are you giggling?" he asked, his voice sounding smooth, dark and seductive to her ears.

She bit down in her bottom lip and grinned of the weird sensation it gave her. Damon's frown deepened and he brushed a stray lock of her hair out of her face, the brief touch of his fingertips making her shiver with delight.

"Callie?" he said, his voice sounding a bit calmer now.

"Yes, Damon?" she asked, still grinning.

Damon parted his lips to say something, but shook his head and decided to kiss her instead, sending more intense and tingling sensations through her body.

"Are you ok?" His voice was like a whisper now but still filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine… ish. I don't know. Everything is just so… vivid and weird right now. I feel like I'm high on something illegal."

Damon raised a brow and couldn't resist the urge to chuckle. "Well, what happened? Did that thing possess you?"

Callie thought about it and could sense the spirit inside her but the spirit wasn't in control of her body or mind.

It was more like… a friendly parasite.

"I'm not possessed, no. I think one of my ancestors sensed that I was in danger and needed help."

He finally smiled and seemed to relax a bit. "So we're not having sex tonight?"

Callie winked and quickly rolled him over so she was now straddling his hips, smirking mischievously before she crashed her sensitive lips against his and felt another intense shiver of joy and pleasure.

Damon tried taking back his position to be on top, but she held him down with her strength and distracted his need to take control as the kisses grew more intense and passionate.

They spent the entire night making love and it _was_ much more overwhelming than what Callie was used to, but she didn't complain.

She felt free, alive and like her skin was on fire but in a good way.

The intensity and sensitivity of her senses eventually faded away slowly as they both fell asleep of exhaustion and a dream that felt more like an ancient memory began forming in her mind.

A group of witches were praying and chanting ancient words that not even Callie understood, holding their hands over a man and a wolf that had been sedated with herbs.

One of the witches looked eerily familiar to Callie and she could sense that she was the spirit who now resided inside her.

The young girl looked barely older than 16 and her body was covered with tribal tattoos, jewelries and beautiful garments that led Callie to believe that this girl held a high position in her tribe.

The wolf's spirit started emerging with the man's spirit and as they became one Callie saw the girl losing consciousness.

As the man woke up and saw her lying lifelessly on the ground panic rose inside him and he held her close to him, like a father would of his dying child.

The dream ended there and Callie's eyes fluttered open, but she remained calm because she didn't want to wake up Damon.

Letting out a deep sigh she cuddled up with him again and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep despite knowing now how the spirit inside her died, trying to give her father what he wanted.

When Callie woke up again the scent of blood, toast, bacon and egg filled her nostrils and she instinctively smiled before opening her eyes.

On the bed sat Damon, eating the breakfast she thought he'd made for her. She pouted and snatched a piece of toast and bacon from him, which made him roll his eyes.

"Finally! I thought you were never going to wake up so I began without you," he said, grinning. "Are you still feeling high?"

Callie shook her head and sat up properly, so she could enjoy the breakfast better. "I did… have a weird dream though. It's nothing serious. I just saw a memory that belonged to the spirit inside me. She was the daughter of a high priest or priestess, I think."

"Oh la la, that's one fancy title (!)" She rolled her eyes when she detected the sarcasm in his voice.

"Do you think that it's the same Darkness that was inside Alaric that's now after me?" she asked worriedly.

Damon shrugged. "I hope not but if it is we're gonna need all the witchy jojo we can get." he said.

Callie raised a brow. "Witchy jojo? Wow… just… wow."

He grinned and stuffed a piece of toast in her mouth. "You know what I mean."

"No I don't, Damon. What exactly is witchy jojo?" She smirked, knowing that she was annoying him.

Damon searched for an answer to her question and when he couldn't come up with one he pretended that someone was knocking on the door and left the bedroom.

Callie shook her head of him and just continued eating what was left on the tray. After drinking her daily glass of blood she went downstairs and was surprised to see that they actually had guests.

Of all people Jeremy was there and he was accompanied by Elena. Had Callie not been possessed by the spirit she might not be able to see Alaric following closely behind them, but right now she did.

"Ric?" Callie said, making everyone frown and look at her.

Alaric stared at her as well and a look of shame appeared in his face as he remembered the things he did to her and her family.

"_How are you able to see me?_" he asked.

Callie shrugged and waved everyone into the living room so they wouldn't stand in the entrance and keep staring at her like that.

Once they were settled in the living room Jeremy told them that Alaric had contacted him recently to pass on a message to us from the Other Side.

"_After Esther died and I was consumed by the Darkness there has been a disturbance in the Other Side and the spirits have been restless,_" he said. "_Something very evil was released and it took form._"

Callie frowned as Jeremy told this to the others. "What do you mean by 'something very evil'. Is it a person or…?" she asked worriedly.

"_Yes, a person. Well, sort of. It once was a person, but I've heard that this person died a very gruesome death that made him hate vampires more than anything else. Mostly because they're not supposed to exist in his eyes. But it's just rumors, so I'm not completely sure._"

Callie nodded silently and tried remembering anyone she knew who was like that. She couldn't think of anyone and definitely not anyone, who had that kind of power.

"Do you know anything, Ásta?" Callie thought out loud, wondering if the young witch inside her knew anything about this.

Ásta was eerily quiet.

"Who's Ásta?" Elena asked.

"I'm guessing it's the spirit who hijacked Callie's body last night," Damon said sarcastically. "She came out of nowhere and Callie believes she's here to help."

The way he said it revealed that he wasn't so fond about the idea of his girlfriend being semi-possessed, but neither Callie nor Ásta cared about his sardonic comment right now.

"Again… who is she?" Elena repeated more curiously.

"An ancestor of mine," Callie answered. "She helped creating the first werewolf… Alaric, did the spirits mention anything about an ancient spell book?"

Alaric's eyes widened a tad. "_It has been mentioned, yes. But they weren't so talkative about the whole ordeal because they're afraid. The Darkness uses their fear and hatred of the living to become stronger and… there's a lot of resentment and fear in the Other Side._"

Oh my… Callie stayed quiet throughout the rest of the conversation and only answered when she was spoken to.

She had a lot on her mind and needed some fresh air to clear her mind, so she stepped outside for a moment and let a cool breeze of air make her hair flutter as it flew through her.

"This is so very frustrating…" she muttered and looked up towards the forming dark clouds in the sky.

The scent of rain was already in the air before she felt the first drop falling from the sky and landing on her arm.

Walking further towards the surrounding trees she decided to lean against it and felt a wave of calmness washing over her.

Whether it was because she was so close to the nature her powers once came from or something else, then it helped clearing her head and she was able to concentrate properly.

"If you weren't a vampire I'd tell you to put on a sweater," Damon said, appearing beside her, his clothes and hair slightly soaked. "Do you want to be alone?"

Callie shook her head and looked up at him, smiling when she saw how his black shirt clung to his body.

_He truly was very distracting to look at sometimes... _

She giggled of that thought and wondered if that had been Ásta's thought or her own. "No, I've thought enough. I think we should visit my father and take a look at that old book again."

Damon didn't hesitate to pick her up and carried swiftly ran to his car, getting her inside it without getting another drop of water on her like an almost proper gentleman.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	22. Kóri

**A/N: HEEEYYYYYYY! Ok I'm a little hyper right now e.O**

**Note to myself: Do not eat so much chocolate.**

**Thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and alerts! :D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 22:

Elijah peered over Callie's shoulder as she skimmed through the pages of the ancient book, frowning slightly as he took a step back and looked at her.

"You seem… different," he said and the frown deepened. "Did something happen to you that you haven't told me about?"

Callie sent Damon a look before turning her full attention back to the book.

"She's fine, Elijah. Stop worrying or you'll look like an old man." Damon said cheekily.

Elijah scowled at him and looked like he wanted to smack Damon in the head with something, but he took a deep breath and continued peering over his daughter's shoulder.

"Is it to any help?" he asked worriedly.

"Perhaps, yes. I found a name in the book. Kóri."

Callie sensed Ásta becoming anxious and mentally asked her what was wrong. She refused to answer, though, and it didn't help that Callie's least favorite uncle entered the living room.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," he said, making Callie rolling her eyes. "Brother, do you remember the werewolves who lived in our village?"

Elijah nodded, narrowing his eyes at Klaus, wondering what he was thinking about.

"What about them?"

Klaus walked up to the couch and took a seat beside Callie, causing Damon to shift in his seat and glare at the hybrid.

"One of them once told me about a warlock, who lived in our village several centuries before us. He was against the creation of werewolves, saying it was unnatural and against their laws…"

"Kóri?" Callie guessed.

Klaus nodded and continued. "The night the first werewolf was created, he had given a priestess a poisonous drink that killed her, but her father was later able bring his daughter back from the dead, though with some new and rather… overwhelming powers."

"Let me guess. She could see ghosts, right?" Damon guessed.

Again Klaus nodded. "Outraged by the father's abuse of magic he then went ahead and murdered the priestess with his own bare hands…"

Ásta started becoming more anxious and the more Klaus told the more sad and anxious Callie became too, because she now knew what happened to the spirit inside her.

"I remember this…" Elijah said. "It was a huge scandal and if I remember correctly then they burnt him alive for his crime against the high priest's daughter. But if he died… then how could he return now?"

"_He uses dark magic…_" Ásta whispered. "_The kind that involves blood sacrifices and will drive you mad no matter whether you are dead or not._"

Callie shuddered. "Did put a spell on himself before they killed him?" she muttered to herself, earning a few weird looks.

"_Yes… He… sacrificed our firstborn child. Kóri is my husband._"

Her eyes widened and Callie suddenly felt very sick to her stomach. Kóri was an ancestor of hers? But… did that mean she was bound to be evil too?

She tossed the book on the table harder than she intended too and rushed out of the living room, locking herself inside the bathroom.

For a moment she felt like she might puke, but being a vampire she never vomited. The nausea remained, though, and she grew quickly lightheaded.

How messed up could her family get?

On one side she was related to the very first vampires in the world and on the other side she was related to a flock of mad witches and warlocks!

"_I should have told you about him. Please forgive me._" Ásta appeared in the mirror reflection, looking so sad and ashamed.

Callie shook her head. "It's fine. I understand… but how could you be married to a man like him?"

"_The time was different back then. I married Kóri because I had to and gave him three beautiful children. I may not have loved him but I loved my children and cared about our status in the society we lived in. Surely you must understand that._"

She nodded and sighed heavily, wondering how Kóri could turn into such a cruel and heartless man just because his father-in-law wanted to be a werewolf.

There had to be another reason…

Or perhaps he was already that mad before it happened…

"_Freya?_" At first Callie thought it was one of her relatives, because only they called her that, but she soon realized it was Damon and opened the door.

"I have a seriously messed up family." Callie blurted.

Damon raised a brow. "I could've told you that."

She sighed and just wrapped her arms around him, listening to the sound of rain pouring down outside.

"We have to find Kóri and get Marcus back alive… He once killed his own son, so there's no stopping him from killing a vampire he doesn't care about."

Damon's eyes widened a tad of this new information, but he nodded in agreement. "Do you have any clues of where to start searching?"

"No… Ásta only told me about Kóri and how he turned into the monster he is now."

He groaned and led Callie back into the living room as Klaus and Elijah were discussing something that was making Elijah rather furious.

Callie rarely saw her father being as furious as he was now and when she overheard the name Serena she knew why.

"I'm just stating the facts, brother…" Klaus said. "Serena was rather attracted to werewolves… I mean, she did fall for me."

Elijah bared his fangs warningly and seeing him doing that made Callie realizing that her father was seriously pissed off.

"Dad!" she shouted, making both of the Originals turn their gaze towards her.

She frowned but before she could ask Elijah had left the mansion, probably to cool off somewhere else and far away from his brother.

"Was that about?" she asked Klaus instead.

"Nothing. We just talked about some old stories from our time as humans." Klaus answered calmly.

Callie rolled her eyes and went after her father with Damon following closely behind her, however, he wasn't anywhere close.

"He'll be back. Don't worry." Damon said, kissing the top of her head.

"I don't get it. What could've pissed him off like that?" Callie asked, thinking back to their conversation.

Something about her mother being attracted to werewolves?

"Let's go to the Grill. I think we could both use a drink right now." Damon suggested.

Callie nodded in agreement and followed him to the Grill, ordering the strongest they had as she sat at the bar with Damon.

Now that they were inside she could get dried up and it was nice getting away from her messed up family with someone she loved.

"Remember when my own problem was to find my dad? I liked that time…" Callie muttered, sipping her drink.

"I do… I liked how we bickered a lot too." Damon said, smirking.

She couldn't resist the urge to smile and remembered how they'd quickly fallen for each other. It felt like a lifetime ago that she and Marcus had just only arrived in Mystic Falls.

"You think Elijah might not be my father?" she asked worriedly, back to thinking about the argument.

"Callie, Elijah _is_ your father. No one can say otherwise when it's true." Damon answered.

Callie nodded and decided to leave it at that. She didn't have time to worry about rumors about her mother and had to focus on getting her best friend back alive.

"_Freya, Damon._" Speaking of her best friend!

"Marcus…" Damon growled as Callie turned around to look at her friend.

Callie blinked and reached out to touch his face, sensing something different about him. She felt… nothing.

The Darkness had left him and he was back to being the old Marcus.

But why?

"Kóri let you go?" she asked.

Marcus' facial expression turned sad and he had a look of guilt in his eyes. "Yes. He… didn't need me anymore. He has someone stronger now," he answered. "He has your father."

Callie's heart dropped and she instinctively went to leave the Grill, but Marcus quickly stopped her and forced her to sit down.

"I know you want to help him, but I can't let you go anywhere close to him. He's an evil and malicious man, Callie. He'll break you down."

"But he has my father!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks now and to avoid causing a scene the two male vampires decided to pull her out to the alley behind the Grill.

"I have to agree with him, Callie. How do you know that it's not just a trick to lure you to him?" Damon said.

"But…" Her voice was raspy and quiet now as she sobbed.

Out of all the people she never wanted her father to be put in danger. The thought of losing him broke her heart but it also made her more determined to find and kill Kóri.

No one – not even her own family – had the right to ruin her life.

"I can't believe it. That bastard took my father!" She punched the wall as hard as she could, breaking a couple of bricks.

"Callie, he can't kill Elijah – only possess him. He may be strong and dangerous, but he can be beaten. Don't forget that." Marcus said, cupping her face in his hands.

"That doesn't change a thing, Marcus. He can make my father do anything. A lot of bad things."

"She's right. Elijah can compel both humans and vampires. We gotta stop him but we can't do it by just finding him." Damon said.

Callie wiped her tears away and sighed, hugging Damon tightly. "Ok ok, I won't do anything stupid… but we can't wait any longer. If he can get to my dad he can get to the rest of my family too and… and then he'll be unstoppable."

"Then let's find your family. Call them and tell them that Kóri has Elijah."

She nodded and after taking a deep breath she finally called Klaus, Rebekah and Kol, telling them about what had happened.

They agreed to meet up at the mansion and beside Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie and Elena also showed up… very reluctantly, though.

Once they'd been informed about the current situation they tried figuring out the best way to get Elijah back, but that was hard when all of Callie's friends more or less hated her family.

"Where exactly did this guy take Marcus when he disappeared?" Rebekah asked suspiciously.

She wasn't completely convinced about Marcus being entirely normal and kept eying him suspiciously, but Marcus just ignored it.

"Simon took me to him once. He's hiding in some caves in the woods, but I'm not sure which one because he keeps changing location." Marcus answered.

"Then we should search the woods," Stefan suggested. "We separate into some small groups and search all the caves until we find him."

"Oh yes, because we want to find him and get possessed too (!)" Kol said sarcastically. "It would be better if we stayed and waited for him to make his move."

"Wait for him to make his move? Are you stupid or just mentally retarded?" Damon asked. "That's not going to work!"

"Wait what did you just call me?" Kol growled.

Callie sighed heavily. This was going to take a _long_ time…

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	23. Frozen

**A/N: EEEP! sorry about the lateness of this chap! I'm drowning in lots and lots of homework :(**

**Thanks for the reviews and enjoy! ;D**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 23:

In the end they decided to go with the plan about separating into small groups and just to make sure that Damon didn't end up in the same group as Kol, Klaus or Rebekah, she made him go with Stefan and Marcus, while Caroline went with Bonnie, Elena and Rebekah and Callie with her two uncles as no one wanted to go with them.

"Sometimes I really do wonder what you see in that poor excuse of a vampire," Kol grumbled as they walked in the dark woods. "I mean I understand Marcus, but Damon-!"

"Shut up, Kol…" Callie grumbled, looking around for her lost father.

Klaus snickered and earned himself an angry look from Kol. It amused Callie to see that but her joy was momentarily as she remembered that she was supposed to find her father.

"Marcus is my best friend and Damon… well, I know he isn't perfect, but neither are you. Actually, he reminds me a lot of you sometimes… maybe that's why I love him." Callie said, winking.

Kol looked baffled as he didn't seem to know if she was insulting or complimenting him. He decided to drop it, though and they walked in silence.

"Wait," Klaus suddenly said, making them all stop dead in their tracks. "Kol, did you hear that?"

Kol frowned and looked around, listening for whatever his brother had heard, however, he couldn't hear what Klaus had heard.

"Is it Simon?" Callie asked worriedly.

Klaus slowly shook his head and Callie noticed that his eyes had turned dark yellow, indicating that someone dangerous was near.

Callie took a deep breath and sensed the presence of someone evil nearby that made her instinctively hold on to Kol for comfort.

Klaus narrowed his eyes and Callie just knew that he'd seen whoever was near them, because his posture suddenly changed drastically.

"Kol, get away with her." he ordered more than said.

Kol didn't hesitate to grab Callie and dashed away from the dark area, leaving his older brother alone with the enemy.

Callie wanted to go back and help him, but reminded herself of that Klaus was a hybrid and could protect himself.

But it wasn't long they were stopped and an unseen force threw Kol several feet away, nearly knocking him unconscious in the process.

Her eyes widened instantly and she looked up into the dark and ominous-looking eyes of her father that stared down at her.

"Daddy?" she squeaked, frightened by the own sight of her father.

He looked so dangerous, imposing and could scare anyone with those threatening fangs and dark red eyes.

"He wants to meet you," Elijah said quietly and menacingly. "Come with me."

"_Callie, get away from him!_" Kol shouted, getting up from the ground.

Callie stood frozen in front of her father, unable to speak or think properly, because she had no idea of how to react.

She couldn't make herself fight him but she couldn't stand leaving him either, so she just stood there until he suddenly grabbed her arm.

Kol went to save her, but Klaus beat him to it, fully transformed into a large dark wolf that had no control over itself.

The wolf known as her uncle attacked Elijah while Kol tried grabbing Callie so they could flee again, but Callie didn't want to go.

She'd gone to help her father and didn't want to go now that she'd found him.

So she slipped her ancestor's ring on her finger and rushed towards the fighting brothers, using her powers to throw Klaus away before jumping on her father.

She placed her hand on his forehead and started chanting a spell that she'd been working on. It was pretty much the same as the one Kóri had used on him but just reversed.

Callie wasn't 100 percent certain about whether or not it would work, but she wanted to give it a shot and felt the darkness inside her father fighting the power within her.

But Elijah quickly overpowered her and dashed away from the place, leaving his brothers in the dark woods.

She still fought him as they moved swiftly through the woods and tried several times to knock him out, but it was like hitting on someone who was completely numb.

"Dad, don't do this! Wake up! It's me Freya - your daughter!" Callie screamed, but it was to no use.

He was exactly like Marcus only much stronger and more hell-bent on getting her to his master. She let out a sigh and decided to mentally prepare herself for a fight against her own ancestor.

Once Elijah finally stopped moving fast and they were in a dark cave near Callie's family tomb, she spotted a dying Simon on the floor with a nasty wolf bite mark on his shoulder.

It had been Simon who'd come for them the first time and seeing him suffering like that didn't exactly put Callie in a good mood.

She was still trapped and about to meet a man, whose soul was more than 1000 years old – much older than even the first werewolves.

Elijah forced her deep inside the cave and said something in a language Callie didn't recognize, signaling his master to come out from his hiding spot.

The mysterious Kóri walked out from the darkness of the cave slowly and calmly, a dark smirk plastered on his tanned skin and his dark brown eyes looked almost demonic in the dim light.

Kóri wasn't in his own body but in the body of a warlock, who'd probably summoned him of unknown reasons, but Callie could see the real Kóri thanked to Ásta.

The real Kóri had fair slightly curled hair that went to his shoulders; his eyes were a darker shade of amber than Callie's and his skin was tanned like the warlock he possessed.

As soon as she laid her eyes on him she recognized who he was even though they'd never met before, because Ásta remembered him and Ásta's memories were in hers.

"Hello Ásta," Kóri said, clearly recognizing his dead wife too. "I see you've taken habitat in one of our descendants. That's very… unfortunate."

"For you, yes," Callie said bravely. "Let my father go or I will–"

"Use your little ring to attack me? Freya, you may be old but you do not have the knowledge to overpower me because you threw away your noble position as witch the day you became like one of _them_! You are a disgrace to your family on both sides."

Callie felt tears brimming in her eyes, because she'd spent many years feeling like one so to hear it from her own family didn't help on the matter.

"What do you even want with me if you hate me so much?" Callie asked, breathing heavily.

"To rid this planet of these werewolves and vampires. They should never have been created and it is my duty as a warlock of the nature to kill all of them. I'm going to finish what Esther couldn't accomplish and take it to another level." Kóri answered bluntly.

Callie couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes and sensed that Ásta was scared. She was scared because if Kóri succeeded then all vampires – including Callie – would die.

"Fine… let my father go and I'll help you. Just... make him himself again!" Callie said pleadingly, hoping he'd fall for her plan.

Kóri raised a brow and moved quickly towards Callie, so they stood face to face and touched her cheek very gently, making Callie shudder a tad.

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" he asked, his voice low and menacing.

Callie gulped and edged away from him, but he grabbed her jaw and pulled her close to him rather roughly, making her instinctively bare her fangs at him.

He narrowed his eyes and started chanting ancient words that she did recognize. She felt some the icy cold darkness leaving his body and traveling towards her.

"I do not _need_ your consent to get what I want." Kóri said, starting to chant louder and using more of his own strength to overpower Callie.

Callie felt Ásta doing her best to protect her but even she was having a hard time fighting the cold darkness within him.

But Callie started chanting too and refused to give up so easily, placing her hand on his neck and sensing that his dominating magic trembled a bit.

Using the power that dwelled in her necklace as well, she did all she could to overpower him and push out Kóri's soul from the warlock.

Unfortunately, Elijah saw her only as a threat and decided to aid his master, hold Callie's arms behind her back and covering her mouth, so she couldn't utter another ancient word.

_Mom! Do something!_ Callie thought, hoping that her mother somehow could hear her.

She felt Elijah being thrown hard against a wall and saw him being knocked unconscious by the large wolf she'd seen before.

Upon seeing the wolf Kóri's eyes suddenly widened in horror and he decided to flee with a little help from the dying Simon.

Clearly, the only thing Kóri did fear was the one person he would hate the most – a hybrid of the two species he despised.

Callie let out a sigh of relief and hugged the big wolf tightly, ignoring the fact that he could kill her at any moment and felt Klaus regaining a little control over his body.

"Nik, go get Rebekah and Kol! We have to get my father to the mansion before he wakes up!" she ordered, panting hard.

Klaus nodded and quickly left the cave again, and a few minutes later all the others arrived at the cave, wasting no time to get Elijah back to the Mikaelson Mansion so they could lock him up.

While they did that Callie went to find Klaus, who'd disappeared into the woods and found him near the quarry where his curse had been broken, lying completely naked and dirty on the ground.

She knew it must have taken a lot of his strength to help them in his hybrid form, so she covered him up and had Damon help her get him back to the mansion as well.

"Remind me to wash my hands when we get back to my home…" Damon muttered, helping Callie placing Klaus in his bed. "Are you ok?"

Callie shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes and once they'd left Klaus' bedroom she finally let the tears out, breaking down completely in Damon's arms.

All this fighting, use of magic and family problems had taken their toll on Callie.

She felt so mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted, the temptation to giving up and hiding somewhere else becoming very hard to resist.

But Damon was there to comfort her and being so close to him made the sorrow fade a bit. Callie lost count of how long they stood there and when her tears had finally dried up, they were approached by Rebekah.

"It's best if she stay here tonight, Damon," she said softly. "She'll be safest with us."

Damon didn't look overly happy about it and Callie wasn't happy about having to part with him either after everything that had happened tonight.

"I want you to stay here… with me. I need you." Callie said quietly, feeling fresh tears brimming in her eyes.

He nodded and wiped the tears away, then kissed her forehead softly. Rebekah said nothing as she watched them and merely went inside Klaus' bedroom to check up on her brother.

"Thank you." She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Damon lovingly, wrapping her arms around his neck as she enjoyed the sweet moment.

Callie hated getting so caught up in all her problems that she nearly forgot about him and wanted to change that even before she'd finally stopped Kóri, because if Kóri won this battle they'd both die.

"You want to see your father before we go to your room?" Damon asked worriedly.

She shook her head and remembered how cold her father's eyes had looked when he forced her to go with him.

They went to Callie's old bedroom where they found Kol waiting in her bedroom, narrowing his eyes instantly on Damon the minute he saw him.

"Is he staying here?" he blurted.

Callie crossed her arms and scowled. "Yes, he is. Unless you have something to say to me, then get out of my bedroom." she said firmly.

Kol rolled his eyes and walked up to Callie, pushing Damon aside harder than he should have.

"I need to talk with you. It's about something your father said when he regained consciousness."

**Thanks for reading and please review! ;D**


	24. Stay Strong

**A/N: God, I really suck at updating faster. _ SORREHH!**

**But thanks for the reviews and yeah, I realize this is a short chap but it's more like a filler anyway...**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 24:

"What did he say?" Callie asked worriedly.

Kol pulled Callie out of her bedroom and into his so they could talk privately. It was first time Callie was inside her uncle's bedroom and she was surprised to see how neat and simple it was.

"I'm not quite sure what happened, but for a brief moment he actually seemed like himself," Kol answered. "He told me to tell you that if it became necessary then he'd happily die for you – even if you were the one who would end up ending his life."

Callie held her breath and wished she hadn't asked, but this made her realize that there might actually be a chance that she'd never get her father back and she had to be prepared to deal with that.

"Did he say anything else?"

Kol shook his head and pulled her into his embrace, none of them saying a word.

When Callie finally returned to her bedroom she found Damon waiting for her as she expected, but he'd just come out of her newly repaired shower cabin with a towel wrapped around the waist.

She found it a little amusing how the mere sight of him could distract her from her worries and she just ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately.

Damon was taken aback by her sudden desire to show her affection for him, but of course he wouldn't pass up on a chance to kiss her back and held her close to his body.

"You're a very strange little vampire," he said teasingly and bit her neck playfully. "But why are you so cheery?"

Callie shrugged. "I just remembered how much I love you… and even though I know that I might lose my father because of Kóri then I'm not giving up fighting."

Damon smiled and suddenly swept her up into his arms, carrying her out to the bathroom.

"Are we going to break the shower again?" she asked, giggling.

"Something like that, yeah." Damon answered with a smirk.

Callie shook her head of him but didn't resist him when he stripped her down nor when they kissed their way into the shower, turning on the warm water and letting it cascading down over them.

But Damon didn't hurry and made her turn around, his hands massaging her shoulders and back skillfully as he kissed the side of her neck seductively slowly.

It was like sweet torture to her and she felt the lust growing rapidly inside her, causing her body to yearn for more of his heavenly touch.

Closing her eyes she focused solely on the pleasure she felt and when Damon finally gave her what her body yearned for, she was unable to stay quiet and cried out in ecstasy, hoping that no one had heard her.

Her cry also earned her a chuckle from Damon and she felt her fangs extending, craving the lust filled blood inside him.

She turned around quickly and crawled up on his body, locking her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck before she crashed her lips hard against his in a raw and passionate kiss.

Caught up in their passionate and uninhabited time together they ended up breaking two shower cabin walls, but Callie was too happy to care about that or about the problems in her life.

Exhausted, dripping wet and grinning like a pair of fools, they lay in her bed with towels wrapped around them and relaxed.

"That's it. I'm keeping you forever against your will," Callie said and laughed. "Seriously, how can you be so damn good in bed? Wait, no I don't wanna know."

Damon burst out laughing and wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously. "Well, to be fair then I did have help from a very sexy, very naughty and _very_ incredible 1001-year-old vampire."

Callie raised a brow and giggled. "Really?"

He nodded and kissed her tenderly, sending a wave of pleasure through her body. "Marry me…"

Her eyes instantly widened and she stared at him in shock, holding her breath because she felt like she'd just died mentally of happiness.

"But…"

"I know what I said, but I want you so badly to stay in my life." He looked awkward about admitting that, but she knew how much it took for him to even say that.

"Will you marry me?"

She bit her lip and had no idea what to answer. Of course she wanted to marry him, but was now the right time to get engaged?

"Yes… yes, Damon Salvatore. I'll marry you, you fool."

He grinned and kissed her again, longer, tender and more lovingly this time.

"I wish my dad wasn't controlled by Kóri. He would've loved to hear this."

"Actually, I'm not so sure he'd even allow me to marry his daughter. Oh God, I just realized something… My future father-in-law is a man I've had daggered 4 times."

Callie burst out laughing and shook her head, wondering how her father would take the news.

"Let's go to sleep and tomorrow we'll continue fighting Kóri." Damon said.

Callie nodded and cuddled up with Damon in the bed after he'd turned off the light, closing her eyes and trying to get as much rest as possible.

She slept peacefully throughout the night, but at some point she was awakened by a noise that Damon hadn't heard and a bright strangely shaped light was hovering at the entrance of her bedroom, watching her intently.

Rather than waking Damon up from his deep slumber, she snuck out of his embrace and followed the bright light downstairs to where Elijah was kept, wondering what it wanted from her.

Once they reached the room Elijah was in, the shape took form and she gasped at the sight of her mother standing in front of her.

"Mom?" she said, waking up Elijah from his slumber.

He frowned and narrowed his eyes at her, trying to wrestle free of the chains and looked around suspiciously.

"What are you doing here?" Callie asked her mother.

"_I am here to knock some sense into Elijah's head,_" she said and grinned, making herself visible to the Original. "_Hello, Elijah. Remember me?_"

Elijah snorted and looked away. "You are the mother of a disgrace"

Serena scrunched up her nose and looked like she wanted to punch him in the face for that, but instead she walked up to him and leaned down to his eye-level.

"_That 'disgrace' is your daughter too. Remember? We made her after we fell in love and I carried her for 9 months, wishing-no _hoping_ that her real father would return to us someday._"

Elijah growled and stared right into her eyes. "I don't love you anymore. You are dead and a disgrace as your daughter, who is nothing but a tool for the Master."

This time Serena did punch him in the face and her hand didn't go through his head like Callie expected it would.

"_Shut up, Eli! Where is your honor? Where is your code? Can you honestly look me straight into my eyes and tell me that you don't love me or your daughter anymore?_"

He tried saying it while looking into her eyes but the words wouldn't form in his mouth. Callie decided to join her mother and placed her hand on her father's, hoping that the pure energy from Ásta would be enough to break through the darkness.

Something inside Elijah started to change and for a brief moment Callie saw darkness flickering in his eyes before they returned back to normal and softened.

"Serena?" he breathed out, his eyes flickering to Callie. "Freya? I'm so sorry, I… it's so strong."

"It's ok, daddy. I'm not gonna stop fighting for you and everyone else. I refuse to give up that easily." Callie said.

"_You should not be giving up. I know that Kóri is strong, but he is merely a spirit and cannot hold on to his body forever. Find a way to part him from his body and send him back to where he belongs. The spirits in the Other Side will take care of the rest, I assure you._" Serena said.

Callie nodded and looked at her father again. "I won't let you die, Dad. I know you wouldn't let me die either."

He let out a sigh, smiling weakly. "I love you, Callie. No matter how cruel I turn then always remember that."

"I love you too, Dad."

She pressed her lips to his cheek and saw the darkness flickering in his eyes again, his facial expression changing as well.

"_You better go back to bed,_" her mother advised her. "_Stay strong, Freya. Kóri feeds off fear, so you cannot show him that you are afraid of him._"

Callie nodded, determined to get past her fears and stop Kóri once and for all. She headed back to bed and found Damon still heavily asleep, sneaking back into his embrace and pressing her lips gently to his forehead.

If she just kept reminding herself of their love she would be ok.

Damon would always be there for her and knowing that he wanted to fully commit himself to her, meant a lot to her.

She would do anything to make him happy and safe, so if having to face her worst fears was what she needed to do, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

"You're staring at me…" Damon suddenly murmured, his eyes still closed.

Callie grinned and giggled as his eyes fluttered open.

"Sorry, but you just look so damn cute when you're asleep. Like a baby." she teased.

He rolled his eyes and pushed her off the bed, making her huff and push him down as well once she got back up.

"I take that back! You're a brat. An annoying little brat!" she huffed and crawled back under the covers.

Damon shook his head of her and just returned without commenting on that.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	25. The Dark Figure

**A/N: Hii, I know it's a short chap but I recently had my heart broken so my mood hasn't been the best. I'll try writing longer chaps next time but I can't promise I'll be happier by then. **

**Thanks for the lovely reviews though ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 25:

"_When are you going to tell me where we're going?" Callie asked, wanting to yank the blindfold off so she could see where they were going._

_Damon chuckled and kept walking, his hands on her shoulders as he led her through what seemed like the open fields near the woods._

_They walked for another 10 minutes before Damon finally slowed down and the scent of something sweet filled Callie's nostrils._

_Smiling widely, she felt the blindfold disappear and she saw that they were in the middle of a beautiful sunflower filled meadow; a round decorated dinner table stood a few inches from her and hidden under the silver domed lid was something that made her gasp._

_A beating heart lay on the tray._

_The sunny weather was now replaced by large dark clouds and Damon was nowhere to be seen, but a dark figure stood before her, one that held a bloody knife in his hand._

"_Give up or someone you love will die," he said with an unfamiliar accent that Callie had never heard before. "You cannot resist me forever child."_

_The dark figure stabbed the beating heart and Callie let out a scream, screaming loud and clearly even as she woke up._

Callie panted as she finally stopped screaming and felt Damon's arms around her, telling her that it was just a dream.

It wasn't long before Kol, Rebekah and Klaus were in the bedroom as well, searching the room suspiciously for anyone dangerous.

"Why did you scream?" Rebekah asked worriedly, dressed in her nightgown.

Kol too was only dressed in his boxers, because she'd woken them both up, while Klaus seemed to have been awake all night.

"It was just a nightmare," she lied. "I'm sorry I woke you all up."

Kol groaned and went back to bed, but Rebekah and Klaus were a little harder to convince.

"I'm serious. It was just a stupid nightmare. Please go back to bed."

Rebekah finally decided to leave as well; however, Klaus stayed and looked more determined than ever to hear what the real reason for her scream was.

"Was it Kóri?" Klaus asked.

Callie merely nodded and couldn't make herself explain what the dream was about, but Klaus didn't ask any more questions and went back to his bedroom.

"What happened? And don't say it's nothing important. I can tell that whatever it was then it scared you." Damon asked.

"Fine, but don't tell the others anything. I think Kóri paid me a visit in my dream to warn me. He said that if I didn't give up he'd kill someone I loved…" Callie answered and sighed.

"Don't worry about it. That dick isn't getting you and he's not going to kill anyone."

Callie couldn't resist the urge to smile and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I hope we'll get to stop him before it's too late," she said. "I don't want to lose anyone."

Damon raised her chin with his finger and kissed her softly, spreading soothing heat inside her that made her fear fade away.

"How do you do that?"

He raised a brow. "Do what?"

"Make me feel so safe? You make the fear go away."

Damon smiled and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her lips tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt herself being pulled up on his lap.

The sweet and tender kiss made her almost forget everything about the horrifying dream and replaced the sensation of fear with hope, courage and love.

"Since none of us can fall asleep and–"

"I'm not having sex with you again." Callie interrupted.

Damon pouted. "Buzzkill."

She narrowed her eyes. "How dare you call your fiancée a buzzkill?!"

Smacking him in the head with a pillow, she was unable to stop herself from laughing and made Damon laugh as well.

He quickly caught her wrists and pinned her hands above her head, holding her body down with his body as he kissed her passionately.

It took all in her not to succumb to the pleasurable feeling.

But the sound of a loud crash coming from downstairs caught their full attention.

Rushing downstairs to see what had happened, Callie found herself standing face to face with her father, a dark look flashing in his eyes.

Elijah was soon tackled by Klaus though and the two Originals fought bravely against each other, smashing into the furniture, destroying the paintings on the walls and used everything they found on the floor as a weapon.

"Get the dagger!" Klaus growled.

Callie was gone before he could tell them again and knew that they had to use the dagger if they wanted to stop Elijah from hurting them.

She found the silver dagger and dipped it in white oak ash, then threw the dagger to Klaus who was the only one who could dagger Elijah without feeling the effects of it.

It pained Callie to see her father being daggered once again, but there were other things that distracted her from the heartache.

How did Elijah get out of the dungeon?

And who released him?

She decided to examine the dungeon and searched for anyone who could've done it, finding no one besides Marcus who'd offered to guard the Original.

"What happened?" she asked suspiciously, wondering if Marcus truly was still himself.

"I'm not sure. I was guarding the place and then a dark figure suddenly overpowered me. I think the person managed to release him." Marcus answered with a look of bewilderment in his face.

Callie approached him and remembered that she wasn't wearing her ring. She cupped Marcus' face in her hands and looked into his eyes, searching for any changes in him.

"Wait, you don't think that _I_ did it, do you? C'mon, Callie I'm your best friend!"

"But you were under Kóri's control once."

"Yes, but he let me go! I'm telling the truth. I swear on my mother's grave that I'm telling the truth."

Callie knew that Marcus wouldn't swear on his mother's grave if he was lying, so she nodded and let go of him.

"I'm sorry. It's just hard to trust the ones I love when my own father is currently possessed."

"I understand you're just being careful, but I assure you – I'm fine."

She bit down in her bottom lip as she weighed his words and decided to follow her instincts that told her to break his neck and chain him up.

"I'm afraid I can't take that risk, not even with you." she said, dragging his body into a cellar filled with vervain plants that would definitely weaken him for now.

Once the door had been locked, her father had been placed back in the dungeon with the dagger still in his heart and Callie was back with her family, she wondered why Marcus had released Elijah – if he had been the one to do it.

"That was a little too strange for my liking," she said. "I mean if Marcus did it, then he'd know that we would stop Elijah immediately…"

"Are you saying Elijah was a decoy?" Rebekah asked.

"Perhaps. I mean Kóri is twice your age and would know better than to make one of his minions do something as simple as this." Callie answered.

"You're being paranoid, Callie. Nothing is going to happen." Kol said.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Kol this one time," Damon said, surprising everyone. "We searched the entire mansion and couldn't find anyone else."

Callie bit down in her bottom lip and nodded. "Okay. But I can't sleep now, so I'm going to make breakfast. Anyone want some pancakes or waffles?"

Everyone raised a brow as if that was the last thing they expected to hear from her, but Kol did eventually raise his hand.

"I'd like some waffles."

Rebekah and Klaus glared at him, making his eyes go wide.

"What? The little lady asked! It would be rude to not to answer. Jeez!" He stormed off while Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"You're really going to make waffles now? Your father almost got to you." Klaus said.

Callie nodded, feeling completely calm for once. She wasn't sure if it was because Damon was there or because she was ignoring her worries, but she just felt too tired to care about that now.

"So… waffles or pancakes?" she asked Damon.

Damon stared at her at first and after Klaus had left the kitchen, he walked up to Callie and kissed her cheek.

"Pancakes, but if you really want to distract yourself from what just happened, then we could always take the pancakes with us upstairs and–"

"_I just lost my appetite! I hope you choke on a pancake, Salvatore!_" Kol shouted from upstairs.

Damon chuckled, clearly knowing that Kol would hear that. "So… pancakes?" he asked teasingly.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	26. Fearless

**A/N: Oh god, I feel so horrible about uploading this chap because it's short and late! **

**I'm sorry people! Like many others I caught the flu this week and have been resting a lot + I hit a writer's block on this one -_-**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 26:

Callie made the pancakes and a couple of waffles in case Kol's appetite returned, which it actually did later that day.

He snuck into the kitchen and stole the waffles while Callie was looking the other way along with something to put on his waffles.

She just grinned and served a plateful of pancakes to Damon that he more or less attacked.

"I never picked you for a pancake guy!" she said, giggling.

"Oh I am. I just love pouring syrup all over my pancakes…" Damon said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Callie frowned, staring at him with a confused look on her face. "That... sounded so weird when you tried making it sound dirty."

Damon laughed and stuffed a pancake in her mouth. "Seriously, why did you decide to make pancakes?"

She shrugged and ate her pancake in silence, her mind wandering back to the incident with Elijah and Marcus.

"I can't… explain it. I guess it's just easier than sitting here and freaking out over what happens."

"Ah… you're right. But as for what happened then just worry about your next meeting with Kóri. We need to be prepared for when he attacks us again."

Callie frowned at the thought of having to fight Kóri again and decided to take her mind off it by stealing one of Damon's pancakes.

"Do you think Marcus is still possessed?" she asked after she'd eaten it.

Damon shrugged. "He seemed pretty normal to me, but then again – I never really trusted the guy."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not. You've always disliked him. Maybe I should go talk to him."

His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Not without me, you're not."

Callie was too tired to argue so after they'd eaten all the pancakes they went down to the room Marcus was kept in.

Marcus seemed to have calmed down but the rage in his eyes made Callie question whether or not he truly was possessed.

Had she been wrong?"

"Freya, let me go! I'm _not_ being controlled by Kóri!" he growled.

"Suuuurrree! Because Kóri just randomly wanted to let you go permanently," Damon said sarcastically. "Just tell us the truth, Marcus. The whole truth."

Marcus actually hesitated and a look of guilt flashed in his eyes that Callie saw instantly no matter how much he tried hiding it.

"You made a deal with him, didn't you?" she asked.

Damon frowned and stared at her, wondering how she could've gotten that idea in her head. But that was the only thing that made sense to Callie.

Kóri must have offered freedom to Marcus for something very valuable and even though she knew that Marcus would never betray her on purpose, then it did sting a bit.

"I'm sorry, Callie… I thought that if I said yes to do something for him and was released then _maybe_ I could help you stop him before he came to collect the favor." Marcus answered.

Callie felt tears brimming in her eyes, her body trembling of fear for what Marcus had promised to do for the old warlock.

"What did he want you to do?"

Marcus fell silent again and avoided her gaze.

Oh, no…

"Did he tell you to release my father?"

"Yes."

Callie bit down in her bottom lip and sighed. "Why?"

Marcus glanced at Damon and the way he looked at the much younger vampire made tears stream down Callie's cheeks.

"Why did he want you to release him, Marcus?" she asked again.

"To punish you for ignoring him. If Elijah hadn't been stopped he would've killed Damon." Marcus whispered, sighing heavily.

Callie left the room and darted back to her bedroom, unable to hold her tears back because deep inside she knew that the dream she had actually had been a warning.

Kóri was going to kill Damon when he got the chance just to show that he was serious.

Damon returned by Callie's side and held her in his arms, trying to help her control the overwhelming flow of emotions that went through her.

"Hey, I'm not dead, Callie. Well, technically I am but–"

She punched him on the chest, making him shut up.

"But you almost did, Damon! I dreamt it and Kóri warned me but… I didn't take it seriously. You were supposed to die today…"

"What happened to you not wanting to let him scare you? You're letting him scare you now. You shouldn't be crying when I'm still alive. You hear me?"

He cupped her face and gently wiped the tears away with his thumbs, kissing her lips softly to calm her down.

But it was hard not to fear Kóri when he seemed to be so powerful.

He could possess people, get into her dreams and even with Ásta's help she was still no match for him because he fed off her fears.

"Losing you would break my heart."

"Yes, but you would keep fighting until the very end and I'd still be by your side. That dick isn't taking my life without getting something in return. Like a kick in the ass."

Callie couldn't resist the urge to smile and wondered how Damon could stay so strong all the time when he hadn't been through nearly as much as she had in her lifetime.

"God, I hate when I start freaking out or crying. I mean I'm 1001 years old! I should be fearless and badass like my father by now."

Damon chuckled. "Well, I'm pretty sure you need a few more years before you become as badass as Elijah. He rip people's heart out and decapitate them just like that"

He snapped his fingers to prove his point, but he was right and that only frightened her more.

If someone like Elijah could succumb to the dark magic Kóri controlled, then what stopped her from doing the same thing?

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm good… I think. I just need to be somewhere else where I'm not constantly reminded that my father is possessed and my best friend and former husband has made a deal with one of my evil ancestors." Callie answered dryly.

Damon smirked. "You make it all sound so dramatic, but when you live in Mystic Falls you're bound to have a messed up life. You should know that by now."

She couldn't agree more to that.

"Let's go pay Elena a visit. I'm sure she could need it too."

"Ah yes, Miss Doppelgänger is still adapting to her new vampire life."

Callie punched him on his chest again. "Be nice! We've all been baby vamps once."

"Uhh, no we haven't," Damon lied. "I was born into being one awesome and badass vampire."

"_Seriously? You're marrying this guy?_" Kol asked, standing in the doorway.

He was still nomming on his waffles and the sight alone made Callie burst out laughing, earning her a weird look from both of them.

"Stop laughing kiddo! What's so funny anyway?"

She grinned and pointed at him. "You because you're such a damn hypocrite. You're just as arrogant as Damon. I'm starting to think you actually like him."

Kol's eyes widened. "I do not! I'd rather be staked in the eye than have any sort of affection for that damn vampire."

He huffed and walked off as Callie hoped he would, giving her the chance to wrap her arms around Damon and kissing him passionately for a few minutes without being peeked at.

"Okay, I really think we should go to my place first." Damon murmured against her lips.

"Mmm me too." Callie grinned and crawled off him, dragging him with her downstairs.

They snuck past Kol who was complaining over Damon to Rebekah and drove back to the Salvatore Boarding House.

But as they were making their way through the house they found someone very familiar sitting on the couch and these persons weren't exactly Callie's favorite persons in the world.

Mikael and Esther.

"This is so not my day…" Callie muttered, glancing up at Damon who was just as shocked as she was.

Of course her grandparents were merely spirits, but their presence alone was scary because they had both tried to kill Callie's family.

"We need a word with you, Freya," Esther said calmly. "I know you want nothing to do with us anymore, but you need to hear us out."

"And why would I do that? For all I care, you could be working for Kóri! I mean you two basically want the same thing." Callie snapped.

"Not entirely…" Mikael said. "We knew about your past, your ancestors and all that followed when we first met you and I can assure you that Kóri is only looking for power. He's obsessed with it and if this escalates he'll gain control over everyone. We can't allow that to happen."

Callie rolled her eyes.

Kóri might be evil but she knew better than to trust her grandparents.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	27. The Village

**A/N: Heeyyy! I'm starting to think that my muse hates me... like really, she doesn't want to help me writing on some of my stories...**

**Enjoy though! :D**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 27:

"So you want me to banish Kóri's soul because you're both worried that he'll force the spirits from the Other Side to help him?" Callie asked, leaning back in her seat.

Damon wrapped his arm around her protectively and sat enjoying his drink, eying the two grandparents suspiciously.

"Yes, exactly. We know that you can do it if you would just stop being so afraid and stop hiding here among your family. While you're hiding Kóri is coming up with a new plan." Mikael answered.

Callie opened her mouth to retort, but deep inside she knew that Mikael was right and that she had to figure out a plan too.

"I don't know what the hell you two are doing in the afterlife, but Callie _has_ fought Kóri and he nearly killed her," Damon said. "She can't go up against him alone again."

"Oh, she can. She is a very powerful vampire as well as witch. You merely have to get past your fear, because fear is what prevents a witch from being great." Esther said.

"That's easy for you to say. You haven't felt the kind of darkness that's in Kóri. He is… like the Devil himself." Callie said.

She shuddered and felt Damon's arm tightening around her because he could feel it.

"I know what kind of darkness that dwells inside him, but you have to remember that he is merely a spirit with a foothold in this world. Break the foothold and he will lose his power."

Callie groaned of Esther's comment. "But what _is_ his foothold? An object? A person?"

Mikael nodded. "A person, yes. You. He draws power from you and that is why you couldn't stop him before."

They all fell silent and a storm of emotions swirled inside Callie when she heard this. She wasn't sure how Kóri had succeeded in getting a foothold by using her, but she had a feeling that it had something to do with the spells she used to get her mother back after she died.

She didn't think that any of them would work for a reason and could only guess that she'd somehow released Kóri from the Other Side by using all these powerful spells.

"Damn Originals…" Damon muttered.

Callie looked up and noticed that they were alone in the living room, but that didn't make her feel any better.

"I don't want to die, Damon…" she whispered. "This is all my fault but… I–"

"Forget it Callie. You are _not_ sacrificing yourself for anyone. Not even me. We'll break the foothold without you having to give up your life. I mean Matt did it when his sister got a foothold through him."

Callie sighed heavily and closed his eyes, wondering how she was going to remove a foothold that had been there for over a thousand years.

She tried memorizing the spell she'd used the night after her mother died and remembered that she used some herbs, her blood and her mother's necklace.

"I need to talk with Bonnie," she blurted while Damon was telling her his plan. "I'll be back later."

Damon's eyes widened and he grimaced because he realized that she hadn't been listening to him at all.

"No, you're not going anywhere. I'll call her and you just stay here where I can see you. I'm not letting you out of my sight." he snapped and took out his phone.

He more or less barked at Bonnie when she answered her phone and told her to come to the boarding house as fast as she could.

While they waited for Bonnie to arrive Callie had Rebekah bring the spell book to the boarding house since Rebekah used to be a witch as well and could help her.

"I have to admit that I never paid much attention to my mother's lessons…" Rebekah said, looking at the list of herbs Callie could remember using once. "I was more into fighting with swords than magic. It was more practical."

Damon rolled his eyes, pacing nervously back and forth in the room. It was making Callie more stressed but she knew that he was just worried.

"Rebekah, please! Surely, you must remember _something_!" Callie pleaded.

"_I remember something…_" Kol said, stepping into the room.

The second they heard his voice everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him in disbelief.

Of course all of Rebekah's brothers had been warlocks once too, but Callie had thought that they'd been more interested in fighting with swords than using magic.

"_You_ know about herbs and magic?" Damon asked incredulously.

Kol scratched his cheek awkwardly and nodded, walking up to the couch with a flustered look on his face.

"I'm not even going to try explaining how I know this, but you need at least 10 more herbs to get that spell to work." Kol said.

They were all still surprised by his sudden arrival and couldn't quite understand how someone like Kol could know anything about magic.

Seeing how they all reacted he rolled his eyes and flailed. "I learned all this stuff so I could impress a witch in the village, okay? Jeez…"

He walked out of the living room and Callie couldn't resist the urge to giggle while Rebekah just shook her head, probably expecting that to be the real reason.

"Anyway, if that's true then I definitely need Bonnie's help because there are some herbs in the woods that we're going to need… and some where my old village used to be," Callie said and glanced at Damon. "Which means I'll have to leave the house. Sorry."

Damon grimaced again. "I'm going with you then. It's too–"

"You? Forget it! I'm going with her! I can actually protect her unlike you." Rebekah scoffed.

Callie closed her eyes because she knew what was going to happen now and sure enough – the pair began bickering wildly about who was the best person to protect her.

She found it both annoying and tiresome, because all she wanted was to go get those herbs and get quickly back again.

"Someone please kill me now…" she said, half-smothering herself with a pillow.

She felt the pillow being removed from her face and pouted when she saw Kol standing in front of her again.

"Don't worry, I'll get them to stop," he said and turned to them both. "Hey! I'm going to take Callie because if Rebekah goes and gets killed Callie will die too and if Damon goes she won't be protected properly."

That shut them up briefly and before they could open their mouths again, Kol quickly threw Callie over his shoulder, grabbed the list with the herbs and darted out of the house.

Callie gave him the directions to where the old village was and to Callie's surprise the village had turned into a small town that looked very much like Mystic Falls.

Of course the place where she grew up no longer had fields of sunflowers around it anymore, but the forest had survived and looked just as big and beautiful as she remembered.

So they went inside and started their search for the herbs, looking around anxiously to make sure that they weren't being followed.

"Did you really learn about magic so you could get laid?" Callie had to ask, trying to distract herself from her worries.

Kol laughed warmly and nodded with a smirk. "She was a hell of a girl and… I think she was the only girl I really loved." he admitted.

Callie couldn't resist the temptation to ask about that.

"What happened? Did you… get her?"

He shook his head and sighed. "My father didn't approve of it because she was a commoner and very poor… But I don't think she ever saw me as husband-material anyway."

She could hear the sadness in his voice and decided that it was best if they changed the subject. "I'm really happy you helped me out there. I've been on the verge of panicking since your parents visited me."

Kol raised a brow. "They visited you? Like in spirit form?"

She nodded and kneeled to pluck a bundle of flowers they were going to need, inhaling the familiar scent before putting them in a makeshift bag.

"I seriously hate them. I don't get how you managed to not kill them when you were human."

Kol chuckled. "Oh yes, I did feel the need to drive a sword through my father's heart multiple times. But he is still my father even though he's an ass. You'll feel the same way about your father eventually."

"If I can get the darkness out of him, that is. Sometimes I think back to the day I told him that I was his daughter and wonder if my life would've been like this if I had kept the truth to myself."

"Oh, trust me it would've. It's hard to keep a secret here in Mystic Falls and I'm sure Elijah would've found out eventually. He's a very clever man."

"That he is… I see why my mom fell in love with him… well after they got drunk and created me." She laughed, shaking her head of that.

Kol grinned but his grin disappeared rapidly as he suddenly heard a twig snapping and turned around, baring his fangs at whoever it was.

Callie turned as well and her eyes widened in fear of seeing Kóri standing there, a dark smirk on his lips that sent a chill down her spine.

"Shit…" she blurted. "That was one shitty move to make on me. Threatening in my dreams and making my best friend kill my fiancé? Not good."

She tried focusing on her rage towards him because if she let him take advantage of her fear she wouldn't survive another meeting with him.

"Hmm, well it certainly seemed to work. I did lure you out from your home, did I not?" Kóri said.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	28. Hope

**A/N: Hellooo, sorry about the late update... I forgot to write the chap *facepalm***

**Thanks for the reviews though and eep only 2 chaps left now! **

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 28:

"Why does this always happen when I'm alone with you?" Callie hissed, running as fast as she could through the woods with Kol right by her side.

They were being chased by an army of vampires who were all under Kóri's control and some of them were over 500 years old, so they weren't that far behind them.

"Are you saying this is my fault?" Kol snapped, pulling her to the right as they reached a mass of trees they wouldn't be able to get through properly.

"No, I'm saying that–"

Callie was cut off when she suddenly felt a vampire tackling her from the side, throwing her into a lake with him.

She struggled to break free of his grip as they sunk deeper and deeper into the lake. The vampire wasn't older than 300 years, but he seemed more powerful with Kóri's darkness inside him.

However, Kol jumped into the water and swam towards her, breaking stabbing the vampire in his heart with a piece of wood before he grabbed Callie and pulled her back up to the surface.

Callie spluttered and struggled to stay calm as she reached the surface, because the entire lake was surrounded by vampires now, waiting for them to get up so they could grab her.

"Give up Freya! This chase is starting to become very tiring…" Kóri shouted. "I'll give you 10 seconds to get out or I will send my vampires to find and tear Damon apart!"

"Don't listen to him, Callie. He's- hey, where are you going!" Kol growled as Callie started swimming towards Kóri.

"I'm going to stop this once and for all. Go back and keep Damon safe and no that is not a request! I'll rip your head off if you let him die!" Callie hissed back.

Once she reached Kóri she noticed that Kol was no longer in the water and hoped that he'd somehow managed to sneak past the vampires.

She wasn't wearing her ring so she couldn't use her magic on Kóri, but perhaps that was for the best, because then he couldn't draw that much power from her.

"Are you done fighting?" Kóri asked wearily.

"No, of course not. I'll never give up," Callie retorted. "I will kill you for all the things you've done and for what you've put me through. You don't deserve to exist, Kóri."

He raised a brow, looking like he couldn't care less about her opinion and merely ordered his minions to take her somewhere else.

Callie followed them reluctantly and tried forming a getaway plan or at least a plan to how she could break Kóri's foothold.

She was taken to an old house in the outskirts of the town they were in and they confiscated her cell broken cell phone even though it was too wet to work.

Kóri made sure to check for any hidden spells, herbs or talismans that she could use against him – all except for the necklace Callie had inherited from her mother.

This made Callie wonder if the necklace had anything to do with her connection to Kóri but she couldn't just destroy it without being sure, because if she did that she would banish her mother and possibly also Ásta.

"I need your help mom…" Callie muttered, clutching the amber pedant necklace tightly.

She remembered something her mother had told her about the necklace's power; how it had resurrected her when Finn killed her and an idea slowly began forming in her head.

It was a very risky thing to do, but she had to try if she wanted to stop Kóri permanently and get back to living a somewhat normal life with Damon.

"Where is the ring?" Kóri growled more than asked.

"I don't remember," Callie lied, knowing that it was actually with Damon right now. "Maybe I dropped it in the lake."

Kóri's eyes flashed red of rage and he struck her hard on her face with his palm, splitting her bottom lip.

She ignored the taste of her own blood and merely spat it out, feeling her bottom lip heal up quickly.

"Hitting me won't get you anywhere, Kóri. I won't tell you where it is." she said, smirking smugly.

"No, but I don't need you to tell me where it is as it's not protecting you from my powers," Kóri said, causing her smirk to disappear. "Tell me or I will figure it out on my own."

Callie took a deep breath and sighed, aware of that she was playing with fire.

"No."

"No?" He raised a brow and approached her, grabbing her by her throat. "Very well, I'll figure it out on my own then."

She looked straight into his eyes and pushed away all the fear inside her as he chanted ancient and malicious words.

The Darkness slowly poured out from his veins and surged into her own body, filling her up and trying to consume every inch of her mind.

But Callie refused to give up and thought of all the good memories she had had with Damon, appreciating everything he'd done for her in the time they'd known each other.

Focusing on Damon kept her from fearing Kóri and made it harder for him to penetrate the walls that protected her mind.

"_I am not afraid of you_…" she said in his ancient native language, going on to quote something her mother once told her. "_I have hope and hope is infinite. It knows no barriers and remains even when life throws you hatred and sorrow. It is what gives you a reason to get up in the morning, what makes you stay by your lover's side… It is pure and it is invincible._"

She smiled as she remembered the last thing her mother had said after that. "_Never forget this, Freya. Hope is what makes you strong when you feel weak._"

Kóri hissed like he'd burnt his hand as he withdrew his hand from her and looked shocked as well as infuriated by her power to resist his magic.

"Fine, if I cannot pull it out of you I will do everything I can to break your 'precious hope'!" he snapped with venom dripping in his tone.

He stormed off and left Callie to stand alone with the corrupted vampires. She didn't feel scared, though, but she was worried about what he meant by that.

Would he attack Damon?

Or make her father attack Damon?

Callie tried taking a step forward, but that only triggered one of the vampires into tackling her to the floor, baring her sharp fangs warningly.

"The Master does not want you to leave this room!" she hissed through her teeth.

She growled as she punched the vampire in her face and sent her flying into another vampire, which only triggered the others to start jumping on her as well.

Callie fought each and every one of them, showing no mercy even though she knew that they weren't doing this out of their free will.

She managed to get out of the room and moved downstairs to the basement, hearing a loud crash the instant she moved down the stairs.

A large wolf stood in the middle of the room and it didn't take a genius to guess that it was Klaus.

"Nik, can you distract them for me long enough so I can get out?" she asked.

He howled in approval and moved upstairs to attack the vampires, giving Callie the chance to escape through the shattered window Klaus came in through.

She was grateful that Klaus was helping her instead of focusing on his obsession to get more hybrids, but she had a feeling that it was because he saw her like his own daughter sometimes.

But she waited until Klaus had emerged from the house before she continued, because she refused to let another person she loved become Kóri's minion.

Klaus' fur was bloody and he had wounds on his body, but they were healing up as they fled the house and returned to Mystic Falls.

The first place Callie went to was the Salvatore Boarding House and she was horrified to see the entire place looking like a tornado had passed through every room.

No one was home so she went to the Mikaelson Mansion to find Elijah free from his captivation and searching the area for her.

"Dad, you need to fight him! Do it for your daughter and Serena!" she screamed as he approached her.

Elijah grabbed her anyway and even though she wasn't wearing her ring, she still hugged him tightly, hoping that she could give some of her hope to him.

She wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't move nor did he make a sound. He just stood there and looked down at her with a confused look on his face.

The confusion slowly turned into a strong headache and he fell to the ground, panting hard and clutching his stomach as if he was going to throw up.

She stayed by his side the entire time, and kept embracing him and doing everything she could to help him through this internal battle.

"Don't give up, daddy. You have to fight it even though it hurts." she whispered, knowing that he was in a lot of pain right now.

"I-I… I can't." he stuttered, his body trembling wildly.

"Yes you can. Please… I love you so much and can't fight Kóri alone. I need my dad… I need you."

She saw tears trickling down his cheeks and it pained her to see him cry, because he'd always been so strong and brave when she felt weak.

Now it was the other way around.

But she didn't care because she wanted to be there for him like he'd been there for her.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


	29. Released

**A/N: O.O OMG I'M SORREH! PLEASE DON'T KILL MEH! D: I've been so busy this week and last week because I'm going to a university about 1 hour away from my hometown tomorrow and have a shit lot of things to take care of before I do.**

**Thanks for the reviews and enjoy! :D**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 29:

For the first time in 1000 years Elijah felt and looked like a mess.

He had bags under his eyes, his body felt sore and his voice was so hoarse from the screaming that he couldn't utter one audible word.

"It's okay, Daddy," Callie said, stroking his head soothingly as if he was the child and she the parent. "We'll all be fine soon."

She closed her eyes and placed a soft kiss on his forehead before she stood up from the floor of the Mikaelson Mansion.

She'd taken him back so he would be safe among his siblings, but she was torn between staying and going after Kóri because she knew he would go after Damon.

For the last couple of hours Callie had tried contacting him but without any luck, making her fear that the worst had happened to him.

"I have to go, Daddy. Damon might be in danger."

He nodded and raised his aching hand to caress her cheek, wishing that she didn't have to go but knowing that it was the right.

She reluctantly left him in the living room and walked into the study, finding Rebekah with her two older brothers.

"What are you planning to do?" Klaus asked.

"I'm gonna find Kóri and… kill that bastard. I'm tired of him, of what he wants and I refuse to let him win… especially if he does have Damon."

"Have you tried calling him again?" Rebekah asked.

Callie nodded, remembering the attempt she'd made while she sat with Elijah a few minutes ago. If something had happened to Damon then she could only assume that he was either dead or possessed by Kóri.

She wasn't sure about what sounded most horrific to her…

Taking a deep breath she gathered the strength to leave the mansion and went back to the Salvatore Boarding House to search for Damon.

She couldn't find him but she did find something else.

Since she was wearing her ancestors' ring she could sense that Kóri had been there and he'd left her a message on one of the walls.

In Damon's blood.

It looked fresh so she figured that they weren't that far away and followed the trail of Kóri's essence that still lingered around the house.

The trail led her out into the woods and the deeper she went in the colder it got, making her literally shiver despite the fact that she never got cold.

This was obviously Kóri's attempt to scare her, but she was too focused on saving Damon to be afraid right now.

"Damon!" she called, breaking the eerie silence. "Damon!"

There was no reply at first, but after a while she suddenly saw a dark figure step out from the shadows, eyes as blue as the sky gleaming brightly.

She recognized the figure as Damon immediately, but he didn't look like himself.

It was as if…

"Callie! There you are," he said, rushing up to her. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Are you okay?"

He went to hug her, but Callie instinctively took a step back, fearing that Kóri had already possessed him.

"I'm not working for him!"

"Then how are you here? I saw your blood on the wall… Kóri told me to come finding him or he would kill you." Callie said.

Damon groaned and stepped forward, cupping her face. His hands felt cold but familiar and she felt herself relax for a moment.

"I'm fine, Callie. I got away. Kóri may be a scary douche bag but he has to do a lot more to get under my skin."

Callie wanted to believe it so badly but she knew when to trust her instincts and her instincts were telling her that something was wrong with Damon.

"Okay," she said, pretending to believe him. "I love you so much, Damon. The thought of losing you…"

Damon silenced her with a kiss and even though she did kiss him back then she couldn't feel any love in the kiss.

There was only darkness.

"We have to stop him, Damon."

He nodded and in the split moment his gaze flickered to someone behind her she quickly snapped his neck and turned around, finding herself standing face to face with Kóri.

He was holding an old ceremonial dagger with blood covering the tip.

"And here I thought I could trick you into letting your guards down…" Kóri said with a dark smirk on his lips.

"I may be naïve but I'm not stupid, Kóri," Callie growled. "And I know how to beat you so don't think for a second that you can win this fight!"

"Hmm? Well I do admire your courage. You've inherited that from Ásta, obviously. But in the end she died anyway because she put her father's selfish needs ahead of her beliefs."

Callie didn't care about what her ancestor had done for her father, because all she cared about was to keep her family, her friends, her fiancé and herself alive.

Taking off her necklace she placed it in a mixture of herbs she'd brought with her and started chanting ancient words that might help her or ruin her life.

Kóri tried preventing her from finishing the job but a large wolf tackled him to the ground and attempted to bite his head off.

Klaus glanced at Callie briefly to signal her to finish the spell, but the fear of losing her mother forever for nothing paralyzed her.

Unfortunately she had to make a decision now, because Kóri managed to paralyze Klaus temporarily and made his way towards her with murder in his eyes.

He went to drive a piece of wood through her heart and a flashback of Finn doing the same appeared in her mind, making it unable for her to flee.

However, Elijah quickly jumped in front of her and let himself be staked in the back – something she never imagined he would be able to do after what he'd been through.

But to see him sacrifice himself brought her out of her trance-like state and she quickly darted away from Kóri, holding her herb filled hand up in the air.

"_Incendia!_"

The herbs burst into flames and burnt the necklace, melting everything away – including Callie's skin.

But she didn't care if she had to endure this pain to get rid of Kóri, because it was a small sacrifice in the grand scheme.

Kóri burst into flames as well and cried out in agony as his soul and the darkness inside him were banished.

She struggled to keep using her powers while being in so much pain, but eventually managed to send back all the darkness to where it came from before she sunk to her knees of exhaustion.

Her hand was badly burnt and the stench of burnt flesh made her want to vomit, however, she tried enjoying the victory she had achieved today.

Klaus, who had transformed back into his human form after being knocked out, slowly woke up and stared in horror at her hand.

It wasn't healing up at all because she was still wearing the ring, but she couldn't take the ring off because her hand ached so much.

But he helped her by pulling the stake out of Elijah's heart and once Elijah was awake as well he could mend his daughter's hand.

"Bite down into my wrist." he said, knowing that there was only one thing they could do about it and he knew that that method would be painful.

Callie listened to his words but she was in shock from the whole experience and so fatigued that she couldn't make herself move at all.

"Freya," Elijah said softly, catching her attention. "Please listen to me."

She nodded silently, feeling tears brimming in her eyes as she bit down into his wrist without her fangs while he prepared himself to pull the ring off.

The moment he started pulling it off she felt the pain return, but it was brief like when a child had its baby teeth pulled out.

Her hand slowly started healing up and slowly, but surely she regained awareness of where she was and realized that she had won the fight.

She went to Damon's lifeless body immediately even though her body ached and caressed his cheeks, hoping that he would wake up soon.

His eyes fluttered open the second she pressed her lips against his and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her onto his body.

"Ow, careful! I feel like I've been driven down by a steamroller…" she grumbled.

"Sorry, I–"

He quickly pushed her off him and growled as a stake went into his stomach, pulling it out of himself so he could stab the still living warlock in the heart.

When he turned his gaze back to Callie to see if she was okay he saw that she had fallen unconscious, so he picked her up into his arms and carried her home.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :)**


	30. Danger Is Always Waiting

**A/N: Hello, here's the last chapter! I hope you like it**

**Thanks for all the reviews and for reading this story and its sequel :D**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

Chapter 30:

Callie yawned as she woke up in Damon's embrace and blinked a few times, taking in the surroundings and recalling how she ended up in the room.

She glanced up at Damon and found him staring down at her with his blue eyes, looking so concerned and yet full of relief.

"Hey…" she whispered and snuggled into him. "Ow my body is sore."

"Well you did use a lot of your strength," he said, kissing her forehead softly. "You've been sleeping for four days. I thought you wouldn't wake up."

Callie understood the reason why he'd seemed so concerned and glanced at her now fully healed hands, starting to remember fragments of that night.

"That warlock tried to kill–"

"I know and I stopped him. We'll be fine. Both your father, Marcus and I are okay."

She sighed of relief and kissed him softly on his lips, savoring the warm tingle she felt in her body every time they were this intimate.

"I can't believe we won this time…" she said incredulously.

Damon grinned and pulled her close to him, kissing her passionately and holding her body pressed against his for a long moment until Callie was left breathless.

"You should lay off the magic for a while… I don't want you to get this weak again." Damon said, wearing a serious expression on his face.

Callie nodded without arguing with him and heard the sound of someone familiar downstairs. She instinctively smiled as she heard his voice and sat up, groaning a little because her body ached.

"My Dad's here. I should let him know I'm fine."

Damon picked her up into his arms and carried her downstairs all bridal style, making Callie flush because it reminded her of that one day they would get married.

She pushed that thought aside and glanced around in the study, smiling of the sight of her father standing in the room.

He hadn't shaved the stubble he'd gained in the days he'd been locked up and looked weary as if he'd been starving himself.

"She's fine, Elijah. You can stop worrying now." Damon said with a smirk.

Callie rolled her eyes of his comment and carefully jumped out of his arms, trying to take a few steps towards her father, but her legs felt like jelly and made her fall halfway there.

Elijah quickly caught her and made her sit down on the couch with him.

"You don't seem fine to me. How are you feeling?" he asked worriedly.

"Sore, but I think I'll be fine. I just… used too much power. That's all." Callie answered, giving his hand a squeeze.

He relaxed a little but she could still see the concern on his face, so she hugged him tightly even though it hurt her body, hoping that that would make him calm down.

"Don't worry so much about me, Daddy."

Elijah chuckled softly. "That's a little hard when I've got a daughter who gets in trouble all the time."

Callie pouted and narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't get in trouble _all_ the time!"

"Well, I gotta agree with your father on that. You do get in trouble all the time." Damon said.

She went to toss a pillow on his face, but the pillow only hit his chest because her arm was aching so much.

She sighed heavily and laid down on the couch to rest, feeling exhausted already.

"I haven't felt this weak since I was human… it sucks."

Elijah frowned and sent Damon a meaningful look that made Callie raise a brow. She guessed that they'd been talking about her health while she'd been out in those four days.

"What is it?" she asked wearily.

"You're going back on bed rest, that's what happening." Damon said, picking her up and taking her upstairs in a flash.

Callie was laid on his large bed once again and handed a glass of blood that she drank hungrily, her stomach growling from lack of blood.

"Mind telling me what you and my father have been talking about?" Callie asked when she'd finished her third glass of blood.

Damon suddenly crawled on top of her and placed the empty glass on his nightstand, kissing her tenderly and almost making her forget her question.

Only almost.

"You're avoiding my question…" she murmured against his lips.

"No I'm not. I'm just appreciating that my fiancée is alive and well," Damon murmured and deepened the kiss, moving his lips down her neck in a slow and seductive manner. "You know, I'm starting to like the sound of calling you my fiancée. That way guys know you're mine."

Callie couldn't resist the temptation to laugh and cupped his face, forgetting completely what they were talking about earlier.

"I like calling you my fiancé as well," she said. "But… even though I'm happy you proposed then we shouldn't rush into a wedding immediately. We can wait a couple of years with that."

Damon raised a brow and smirked, kissing her forehead before he commented on that. "Whenever you want to do it I'm ready too. I am completely and utterly lost in you, Freya Callistus Mikaelson."

Callie blushed brightly and went to hide her red cheeks behind her palms, but Damon quickly caught her wrists and made her look at him.

"I'm serious. I mean how often a vampire gets to marry such an oldie like you."

She narrowed her eyes even though she knew he was joking and threw him off the bed. "Blegh, stop with the oldie jokes! I'm not that old! Well I am, but I was turned when I was 18 so… just shut up!"

Damon burst out laughing so she grabbed another pillow and this time she did get to smack him in the face with it.

"I have a feeling we're gonna have a very violent marriage…" Damon muttered, grabbing the pillow from her.

"Yeah, well that what happens when wives have stupid husbands with stupid jokes about her age!"

"But we're not married yet… I have time to change."

Callie snorted sarcastically. "You change? Damon, we all know that you love being a dick, but I still love you."

He smirked smugly and leaned across the bed to peck her lips. "And that is why I love you. You're not trying to change me..."

Someone suddenly knocked on the door and it took all in Callie not to groan, because she wanted to spend some time alone with Damon.

But she recognized Marcus' voice as he asked if he could come in and allowed him to enter, noticing that he too had gotten scruffy since she last saw him.

"Hey…" she said quietly, feeling guilty about talking about marriage nearby him.

They did use to be married once and now she was marrying someone else.

"Damon, would you mind leaving us for a bit?" Marcus asked without taking his eyes off her.

"Yeah I would. If you have something to say to her then say it in front of me." Damon answered with a smug smirk.

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Fine. I… I'm gonna leave town tomorrow."

Callie's eyes widened. "What? Again? But–"

"It's not because of what you think. I get that I had my chance with you and that Damon is the one you want, but after what happened while I was possessed… I just… need a break."

"Oh…" Callie sighed and felt tears prickling her eyes.

She didn't want Marcus to leave her again, but she understood why he had to go and wasn't going to stop him.

"Damon, can I talk with him alone? Please?"

Damon opened his mouth to object and met her sad gaze, sighing heavily and closing his mouth again before he walked out very reluctantly.

Once Damon was gone Marcus went closer to Callie and sat down on the bed. "I hope he'll be a better husband than I was."

"You weren't a horrible husband, Marcus. We just weren't supposed to be married, I think. I mean you wanted so many things that I didn't and…"

Marcus raised his hand, signing her to stop. "It's okay. You're right, but I did suck when I drank too much. Anyhow, you can always call me if you need anything. You know that."

Callie nodded. "Will you… come to my wedding? I know it's a lot to ask but… you're my best friend."

He shrugged and took her hand in his, caressing her hand softly with his thumb. "Maybe. We'll see."

It wasn't a "no" but it wasn't a yes either, but she had a feeling that he might not show up and she didn't blame him for choosing so.

"I'm glad you're back. You deserve some happiness and peace, but don't forget what you used to tell me every time we travelled somewhere new."

"'Danger is always waiting for us' I remember…" She sighed heavily.

"Exactly. Now get some rest, try not to fight too much with your family and… thank you for turning me. You've given me so much."

Callie couldn't hold the tears back anymore and just hugged him tightly, remembering all the fun they used to have together and how happy he made her feel in those crazy couple of centuries.

"Thank you for being there for me and helping me find my father. I can't tell how much it means to me..." she said.

He smiled softly and kissed her cheek, leaving her a small gift that she unpacked while he headed out of the bedroom.

She gasped at the sight of her necklace fully intact and without scratches.

It wasn't the one her mother had given her, but a beautiful replica made of the exact same stone just with a better silver chain and it had her name engraved on the back of the stone.

She was grateful that Marcus had taken the time to make her this, because after losing the one her mother had given her forever, she'd missed having a memory of her mother.

Damon returned soon after and joined her, looking sour about the fact that he had to leave. But she had a feeling that he'd been eavesdropping on their conversation anyway.

"Is that the real thing?" Damon asked, nodding towards the necklace.

"No, but it's better than nothing…" she answered, brushing her thumb over the smooth surface. "Do you think my mother understands why I did what I did?"

"Yes, and I'm sure she's happy to be moving on. From what I've gathered spirits aren't happy when they're around the living."

He dropped down beside her on the bed and kissed her cheek softly.

"Don't worry about it, Callie. She's probably happy for you."

Callie decided to believe him and glanced down at the necklace, thinking about how she hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye properly.

Damon took the necklace from her and moved her hair aside to kiss her neck so softly that it sent a wave of warmth through her body.

He clasped the necklace around her neck and then pressed his lips against hers, kissing her tenderly and making her forget about her worries.

"I love you…" Damon whispered sweetly into her ear.

"I love you too…" Callie whispered, looking into his eyes. "Everything will be okay now."

He nodded and leaned his forehead against hers and for a moment they just closed their eyes, savoring the silence and intimacy with each other.

"The future is ours."

**A/N2: Again thank you for R&R this story. I'm so surprised to see that it got that much attention which I do appreciate a lot! I did consider continuing the story now that S4 is airing, but I think it's best to leave this one open. Idk, let me know what you think and I might reconsider my decision...**

**Thanks for reading and please review! :)**


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